UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States cautioned on Wednesday it was ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program but said it preferred global diplomatic action against Pyongyang for defying world powers by test launching a ballistic missile that could hit Alaska.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council that North Korea’s actions were “quickly closing off the possibility of a diplomatic solution” and the United States was prepared to defend itself and its allies.

“One of our capabilities lies with our considerable military forces. We will use them if we must, but we prefer not to have to go in that direction,” Haley said. She urged China, North Korea’s only major ally, to do more to rein in Pyongyang.

Speaking with his Japanese counterpart on Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis underscored the “ironclad commitment” of the United States to defending Japan and providing “extended deterrence using the full range of U.S. capabilities,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.

Mattis’ assurances to Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada came during a phone call to discuss the North Korean test, the statement said.

Taking a major step in its missile program, North Korea on Tuesday test launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that some experts believe has the range to reach the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawaii and perhaps the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

North Korea says the missile could carry a large nuclear warhead.

The missile test is a direct challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile.

He has frequently urged China to press the isolated country’s leadership to give up its nuclear program.

Haley said the United States would propose new U.N. sanctions on North Korea in coming days and warned that

if Russia and China did not support the move, then “we will go our own path.”

She did not give details on what sanctions would be proposed, but outlined possible options.

“The international community can cut off the major sources of hard currency to the North Korean regime. We can restrict the flow of oil to their military and their weapons programs. We can increase air and maritime restrictions. We can hold senior regime officials accountable,” Haley said.

Diplomats say Beijing has not been fully enforcing existing international sanctions on its neighbor and has resisted tougher measures, such as an oil embargo, bans on the North Korean airline and guest workers, and measures against Chinese banks and other firms doing business with the North.

“Much of the burden of enforcing U.N. sanctions rests with China,” Haley said.

The United States might seek to take unilateral action and sanction more Chinese companies that do business with North Korea, especially banks, U.S. officials have said.

China’s U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, told the Security Council meeting that the missile launch was a “flagrant violation” of U.N. resolutions and “unacceptable.”

“We call on all the parties concerned to exercise restraint, avoid provocative actions and belligerent rhetoric, demonstrate the will for unconditional dialogue and work actively together to defuse the tension,” Liu said.

TENSIONS WITH U.S.

The United States has remained technically at war with North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty and the past six decades have been punctuated by periodic rises in antagonism and rhetoric that have always stopped short of a resumption of active hostilities.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on during the test-launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang July 5, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS

Tensions have risen sharply after North Korea conducted two nuclear weapons tests last year and carried out a steady stream of ballistic missile tests

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the ICBM test completed his country’s strategic weapons capability that includes atomic and hydrogen bombs, the state KCNA news agency said.

Pyongyang will not negotiate with the United States to give up those weapons until Washington abandons its hostile policy against the North, KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

“He, with a broad smile on his face, told officials, scientists and technicians that the U.S. would be displeased ... as it was given a ‘package of gifts’ on its ‘Independence Day,’” KCNA said, referring to the missile launch on July 4.

Trump and other leaders from the Group of 20 nations meeting in Germany this week are due to discuss steps to rein in North Korea’s weapons program, which it has pursued in defiance of Security Council sanctions.

Russia’s deputy U.N. envoy said on Wednesday that military force should not be considered against North Korea and called for a halt to the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea.

He also said that attempts to strangle North Korea economically were “unacceptable” and that sanctions would not resolve the issue.

The U.S. military assured Americans that it was capable of defending the United States against a North Korean ICBM.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis noted a successful test last month in which a U.S.-based missile interceptor knocked down a simulated incoming North Korean ICBM.

“So we do have confidence in our ability to defend against the limited threat, the nascent threat that is there,” he told reporters. He acknowledged though that previous U.S. missile defense tests had shown “mixed results.”

The North Korean launch this week was both earlier and “far more successful than expected,” said U.S.-based missile expert John Schilling, a contributor to Washington-based North Korea monitoring project 38 North.

Slideshow (18 Images)

It would now probably only be a year or two before a North Korean ICBM achieved “minimal operational capability,” he added.

Schilling said the U.S. national missile defense system was “only minimally operational” and would take more than two years to upgrade to provide more reliable defense.</s>Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-04 16:25:44|Editor: Yamei

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PYONGYANG, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) declared Tuesday that it has successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the same day, hailing it as the "final gate to rounding off the state nuclear force."

The DPRK lauded the launch of the ICBM as a historic event in boosting its defense capabilities to counter the threats of the United States.

The Korean Central Television reported in a special program that top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un signed the order to carry out the test-fire of the ICBM Hwasong-14 on Monday and personally conducted the launch, before "declaring before the world its shining success."

The DPRK Academy of Defense Science said the missile blasted off from the northwestern part of the DPRK at 09:00 a.m. (0030 GMT) Tuesday to make a 39-minute flight along its pre-set trajectory before accurately hitting the target waters in the open sea in the East Sea of Korea (Sea of Japan), according to the Korean Central News Agency.

The test launch was carried out at the maximum angle launch system and had no adverse effect on the security of neighboring countries, it said, adding that it was boosted to the maximum height of 2,802 km and traveled 933 km distance.

"The success in the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic rocket Hwasong-14 is a powerful manifestation of the invincible state might and the tremendous capability of the self-reliant national defense industry of the DPRK," said the news release.

"It is also a great auspicious event to be specially recorded in the history of the DPRK which has long craved for powerful defense capabilities," it said.</s>North Korea: Donald Trump tweets on missile launch, suggests China could 'end this nonsense'

Updated

North Korea has launched another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, prompting US President Donald Trump to declare it is "hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer".

Key points: The missile flew about 930 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan

The launch was criticised by the US, Japan and South Korea

Leaders will discuss North Korea at this week's G20 summit

The intermediate-range ballistic missile "greatly exceeded" an altitude of 2,500 kilometres, Japan's Defence Ministry said, and flew about 930 kilometres for around 40 minutes before landing in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone.

The launch added to a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the US.

On Twitter Mr Trump, presumably referring to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, questioned whether "this guy [has] anything better to do with his life".

Mr Trump went on to suggest China could "perhaps" take action against North Korea "and end this nonsense once and for all!"

The missile was launched about 10:40am (AEST) from an airfield in Panghyon, about 100 kilometres north-west of the North's capital, Pyongyang, the South Korean military said.

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said the military was analysing the missile, and examining the possibility it may have been an intercontinental ballistic missile-class (ICBM) rocket.

Mr Moon told a national security council meeting at the presidential Blue House that he was deeply disappointed North Korea had launched the missile only days after he and Mr Trump called for restraint.

It was the fourth ballistic missile launched by the North since Mr Moon took office in May, vowing to use dialogue as well as pressure to bring Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes under control.

The US military's Pacific Command said the projectile was a single, land-based intermediate range ballistic missile, and was tracked for 37 minutes before it landed in the Sea of Japan.

"The North American Aerospace Defence Command assessed that the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America," it said in a statement.

Japan's Abe to call for 'solidarity' on North Korea

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said North Korea was ignoring repeated warnings from the international community, and flagged that he will ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles in efforts to stop its arms programme.

The launch came ahead of a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 countries in Germany later this week.

The leaders of the US, China, Japan and South Korea are expected to discuss efforts to rein in the North's nuclear and missile tests at the talks on July 7 to 8.

"Leaders of the world will gather at the G20 meeting. I would like to strongly call for solidarity of the international community on the North Korean issue," Mr Abe told reporters.

The missile launch also comes ahead of July 4 Independence Day celebrations in the United States.

North Korea has previously fired missiles around the US holiday.

The launch would be the latest in a series by North Korea since the start of the year and comes just one day after Mr Trump spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the issue.

Reuters/AP

Topics: world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, korea-democratic-peoples-republic-of

First posted</s>North Korea said on Tuesday it successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which flew a trajectory that an expert said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska.

The launch comes days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations are due to discuss steps to rein in Pyongyang’s weapons programs, which the North has pursued in defiance of U.N. Security Council and unilateral U.S. and South Korean sanctions.

The launch, which North Korea’s state media said was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, sent the rocket 933 km (580 miles) with a flight time of 39 minutes and reached an altitude of 2,802 km.

Earlier on Tuesday, officials from South Korea, Japan and the United States said the missile had landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) after being launched near an airfield in Panghyon, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the North’s capital, Pyongyang.

“The test launch was conducted at the sharpest angle possible and did not have any negative effect on neighboring countries,” North Korea’s state media said in a statement.

The North also said its missile capability could now strike anywhere in the world.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who convened a national security council meeting, said the missile was believed to be an intermediate range type, but the military was also looking at the possibility it was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

North Korea has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped ICBM capable of hitting the United States, ignoring repeated warnings from the international community.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday he will ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles in efforts to stop the Pyongyang’s arms program.

“Leaders of the world will gather at the G20 meeting. I would like to strongly call for solidarity of the international community on the North Korean issue,” Abe told reporters.

Stock markets in both South Korea and Japan fell after the missile launch, with the Kospi ending down 0.6 percent and Japan’s Nikkei share average ending down 0.1 percent.

Japan said on Monday the United States, South Korea and Japan will have a trilateral summit on North Korea at the G20. China’s leader Xi Jinping will also be at the July 7-8 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

North Korea has conducted four missile tests since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office in May, vowing to use dialogue as well as pressure to bring Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs under control.

U.S. President Donald Trump, responding to the latest launch, wrote on Twitter: “North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?” an apparent reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”, Trump said in a series of tweets.

Pyongyang has conducted missile-related activities at an unprecedented pace since the start of last year. Analysts say it is years away from having a nuclear-tipped ICBM.

But Pyongyang is also trying to develop intermediate-range missiles capable of hitting U.S. bases in the Pacific. The last North Korean launches before Tuesday were of land-to-sea cruise missiles on June 8.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the assessments of the flight time and distance suggest the missile might have been launched on a “very highly lofted” trajectory of more than 2,800 km.

The same missile could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory, Wright said in a blog post.

“That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska,” he said. (Graphic on North Korea’s missile capabilities tmsnrt.rs/2t0oSv7)

North Korea is banned from testing or developing missiles under a series of U.N. resolutions.

It has conducted nuclear and missile tests to show defiance in the face of international pressure and to raise the stakes when Pyongyang sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions, analysts say.

South Korea’s Moon said on Monday in a meeting with former U.S. president Barack Obama that North Korea now faces its “last opportunity” to engage in talks with the outside world.

Earlier this week, North Korea was a key topic in phone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of China and Japan. Leaders of both Asian countries reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

Trump has recently suggested he was running out of patience with China’s modest steps to pressure North Korea.

In his meeting in Washington on Friday with Moon, Trump called on regional powers to implement sanctions and demanded that North Korea “choose a better path and do it quickly”.</s>North Korea has test-fired a ballistic missile that could take it a step closer to fielding long-range weapons.

This was North Korea's 13th missile test in 2017. Reuters reports claims by North Korean media that the launch was the country's first intercontinental ballistic missile.

The missile was fired at 9:40am from North Korea's Western coast and flew for 40 minutes towards Japan, landing in the Sea of Japan. The test was launched just before the US Independence Day holiday and this week's G20 political summit.

Expert David Wright estimates such a long-range missile would be unable to hit mainland United States, but could potentially reach Alaska.

A new report concludes that although the total number of nuclear missiles in the world is declining, the rate of disarmament is slowing.</s>SEOUL - North Korea said on Tuesday it successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time, which flew a trajectory that experts said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska.

The launch came days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations were due to discuss steps to rein in North Korea's weapons program, which it has pursued in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

The launch, which North Korea's state media said was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, sent the rocket 933 km (580 miles) reaching an altitude of 2,802 km over a flight time of 39 minutes.

North Korea has said it wants to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

To do that it would need an ICBM with a range of 8,000 km (4,800 miles) or more, a warhead small enough to be mounted on it and technology to ensure its stable re-entry into the atmosphere.

Some analysts said the flight details on Tuesday suggested the new missile had a range of more than 8,000 km, underscoring major advances in its program. Other analysts said they believed its range was not so far.

“This is one more missile. A little further, a little farther. At some point something’s going to give,” said Vestcap Investment Management Senior Portfolio Manager Lyle Stein in an interview with BNN on Tuesday.

“I think with this [Trump] administration, as compared to the Obama administration, the notion of that red line will probably be more enforced…it might be something quite serious that would cause markets to have a significant reaction.”

Officials from South Korea, Japan and the United States said the missile landed in the sea in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after being launched on a high trajectory from near an airfieldnorthwest of the North's capital, Pyongyang.

"The test launch was conducted at the sharpest angle possible and did not have any negative effect on neighboring countries," North Korea's state media said in a statement.

The North said its missiles were now capable of striking anywhere in the world.

"It appears the test was successful. If launched on a standard angle, the missile could have a range of more than 8,000 km," said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

"But we have to see more details of the new missile to determine if North Korea has acquired ICBM technology."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who convened a national security council meeting, said earlier the missile was believed to be an intermediate-range type, but the military was looking into the possibility it was an ICBM.

U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" in an apparent reference to NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un.

"Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!," Trump said in a series of tweets.

Stock markets in both South Korea and Japan fell, with the Kospi ending down 0.6 per cent and Japan's Nikkei share average ending down 0.1 per cent.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles in efforts to stop Pyongyang's arms program.

"Leaders of the world will gather at the G20 meeting. I would like to strongly call for solidarity of the international community on the North Korean issue," Abe told reporters.

Japan said on Monday the United States, South Korea and Japan would have a trilateral summit on North Korea at the G20. Chinese President Xi Jinping will also be at the July 7-8 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called for calm and restraint, and reiterated China's opposition to North Korea's violation of U.N. resolutions on missile tests.

Responding to Trump's tweet, Geng said China had for a long time been working hard to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

"China's contribution is obvious to all. China's role is indispensable," he told a daily news briefing.

China would continue to work hard and also hoped other parties would work hard too, Geng said.

"We hope all sides can meet each other half way."

North Korea says it needs to develop its weapons in the face of what it sees as U.S. aggression.

It has conducted five nuclear tests, two since the beginning of last year, and numerous missile tests over the past year.

It often times its tests to show its defiance and to raise the stakes when it sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions, analysts say.

The launch took place hours before the Independence Day celebrations in the United States.North Korea has in the past fired missiles around this time.

Despite the unprecedented pace of tests since the start of last year, analysts have said they believed North Korea was years away from having a nuclear-tipped ICBM capable of hitting the United States.

North Korea is also trying to develop intermediate-range missiles capable of hitting U.S. bases in the Pacific. The last North Korean launches before Tuesday were of land-to-sea cruise missiles on June 8.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the assessments of the Tuesday flight time and distance suggested the missile might was launched on a "very highly lofted" trajectory of more than 2,800 km.

The same missile could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory, Wright said in a blog post.

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska," he said.

South Korea's Moon said on Monday North Korea now faced its "last opportunity" to engage in talks with the outside world.

North Korea has conducted four ballistic missile tests since Moon took office in May, vowing to use dialog as well as pressure to bring Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs under control.

This week, North Korea was a major topic in phone calls between Trump and the leaders of China and Japan, both of whom reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

Trump has recently suggested he was running out of patience with China's efforts to pressure North Korea.</s>North Korea launched a ballistic missile from its western region into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, ahead of a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 countries in Germany later this week.

WASHINGTON/SEOUL: North Korea said on Tuesday it successfully test-launched a first intercontinental ballistic missile, (ICBM), which analysts said could put all of the U.S. state of Alaska in range for the first time.

U.S. networks Fox News and NBC said U.S. officials had told them they believed Tuesday's test was of an ICBM, marking a worrying milestone in Pyongyang's missile development. CNN quoted officials as saying it was probably a two-stage ICBM.

The United States requested a closed-door meeting of the 15-member U.N. Security Council on the launch, a session likely to be scheduled for Wednesday, a spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The launch, on the eve of U.S. Independence Day, took place days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations were due to discuss steps to rein in North Korea's weapons programme, which it has pursued in defiance of Security Council sanctions.

North Korea's state media said the launch was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un and sent the Hwasong-14 933 km (580 miles), reaching an altitude of 2,802 km (1,741 miles) over a flight time of 39 minutes.

North Korea has said it is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland, something U.S. President Donald Trump vowed in January would never happen.

Some analysts said the flight details suggested the new missile had a range of more than 8,000 km (4,970 miles), which would put significant parts of the U.S. mainland in range, representing major advances in its programme.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the flight time and distance suggested the missile could travel about 6,700 km (4,163 miles), bringing all of Alaska into range.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the missile was believed to be an intermediate-range type, but the military was looking into the possibility it was an ICBM.

The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the TV network reports but said the U.S. government was working on a more detailed assessment of the launch. On Monday night, the Pentagon described the missile as an intermediate-range type that travelled for 37 minutes.

U.S.-based missile expert John Schilling, a contributor to the Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, 38 North, said the launch was both earlier and "far more successful than expected."

He said it would now probably only be a year or two before a North Korean ICBM achieved "minimal operational capability" and it was likely the initial test did not perform as well as an operational missile would.

"Still, this missile demonstrated a degree of performance that is beyond what is needed to reach Anchorage - or Pearl Harbour - but not quite sufficient to reliably reach targets on the U.S. West Coast," he said.

Schilling said the U.S. national missile defence system was "only minimally operational" and would take more than two years to upgrade to provide more reliable defence.

North Korea said its missiles were now capable of striking anywhere in the world.

Officials from South Korea, Japan and the United States said the missile landed in the sea in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone after being launched on a high trajectory.

Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Seoul's Kyungnam University, said that if launched on a standard angle, the missile could have a range of more than 8,000 km (4,970 miles).

Trump has been urging China, North Korea's main trading partner and only big ally and the current chair of the U.N. Security Council, to press Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programme. In an apparent reference to Kim Jong Un, Trump tweeted: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"

"Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer," he added. "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

Trump has indicated he is running out of patience with Beijing's efforts to rein in North Korea. His administration has said all options are on the table, military included, but suggested those would be a last resort and that sanctions and diplomatic pressure were its preferred course.

While China has responded to previous North Korean tests of suspected ICBM technology by agreeing to tougher U.N. sanctions, it emphasized on Tuesday its call for a return to talks with North Korea by signing a joint statement with Russia.

Under China's plan, North Korea would suspend its ballistic missile programme in return for a moratorium on large-scale military exercises by the United States and South Korea, which Washington and Seoul say are essential to maintain defence readiness.

Trump is due to meet both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G20 in Germany this week.

Japan said on Monday it would have a trilateral summit with the United States and South Korea on North Korea at the G20. Its prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said he would ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles.

North Korea was a major topic in phone calls between Trump and the leaders of China and Japan this week.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called on Tuesday for calm and restraint, and reiterated China's opposition to North Korea's violation of U.N. resolutions on missile tests.

Responding to Trump's tweet, Geng said China had been working hard to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

"China's role is indispensable," he told a daily news briefing. "We hope all sides can meet each other halfway."

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, two since the beginning of last year, and the pace of missile tests has risen significantly. It says it needs to defend itself against U.S. aggression.

Analysts say it often conducts tests to show its defiance and to raise the stakes when it sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions.</s>SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in Tokyo.

Suga said the missile was thought to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone and that it had had a flight time of around 40 minutes.

The missile was launched from a province near the border with China on Tuesday, the news agency Yonhap reported, citing the South Korean military.

“North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea from the vicinity of Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at around 9:40 a.m.,” it quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying.

The launch comes a day after China warned that if tensions in the region continued to escalate, the situation could “get out of control” with “disastrous” consequences.

U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi also said that Beijing would push for the U.S. and South Korea to halt military exercises on the Korean Peninsula in exchange for North Korea suspending its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The Trump administration, which has repeatedly warned that the “era of strategic patience” with Pyongyang is over, has turned to China for help in reigning in the nuclear threat from North Korea.

But frictions between the two powers, including over the South China Sea and Taiwan, have also impeded discussions.

President Donald Trump, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in are expected to discuss North Korea on the sidelines of this week’s G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Latest on North Korea’s missile launch (all times local):

South Korea’s military says it is analyzing with the United States whether North Korea really has test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Cho Han Gyu, director of operations at South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a televised briefing that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are determining whether a missile launched Tuesday has ICBM capability, as North Korea claims.

The launch was the latest in a series of tests by North Korea as it works to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

Cho said the missile demonstrated an improved range over an intermediate-range missile that North Korea tested on May 14.

North Korean citizens in the capital are praising their country’s launch of what it called its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Soon after the authoritarian government announced Tuesday that it had fired the missile that morning, a 38-year-old Pyongyang man named Ri Song Gil said his country “can attack anywhere in the world.” He added, “Now, the time when the U.S. could threaten the world with nuclear weapons has passed away.”

Twenty-seven-year-old Kim Hye Ok calls the launch “extremely delightful news” and says North Korea “will march forward along our own way” despite international sanctions.

The launch appeared to be the North’s most successful missile test yet. A U.S. scientist examining its height and distance said it could be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

China says it opposes North Korean missile launches that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Tuesday that his country was collecting information about North Korea’s latest launch, conducted earlier in the day.

North Korea announced that it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, though that claim could not be immediately verified. The missile flew about 930 kilometers (580 miles) and fell into the Sea of Japan.

Geng said that China urges “the North Korean side to stop taking actions that violate Security Council resolutions and to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of talks.”

He also defended China’s efforts to try to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. He said that China’s role is indispensable, and that its contribution in that regard is recognized.

Japan’s government spokesman says it is still studying North Korea’s claim that it successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga (yoh-shi-hee-deh soo-gah) said Tuesday that Japan is “carefully analyzing the maximum distance of its flight.”

Suga said the missile landed about 300 kilometers (500 miles) off Oga Peninsula on Japan’s northwestern coast.

North Korea announced that it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile earlier Tuesday. It is part of a string of recent tests as it works to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

North Korea says its latest missile test reached a height of 2,802 kilometers (1,740 miles) and flew 933 kilometers (580 miles) for 39 minutes before falling into the sea.

The country’s Academy of Defense Science said Tuesday in a statement that it was a successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missiles called Hwasong-14.

The statement was distributed by North Korea’s KCNA news service.

The reported trajectory was similar to that announced earlier by U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials, though the U.S. judged it to be an intermediate-range missile.

Either way, it would be a longer and higher flight than similar tests previously reported.

The U.S military says it tracked a North Korean missile for 37 minutes before it landed in the Sea of Japan.

The Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement Tuesday that an intermediate-range ballistic missile was launched from near an airfield in North Korea.

NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said the missile did not pose a threat to North America.

South Korean and Japanese officials reported the North Korean missile launch earlier Tuesday. It is part of a string of recent tests as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

He wrote in two consecutive tweets: “Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”

South Korean and Japanese officials say North Korea launched a ballistic missile Tuesday morning that is believed to have landed in the Sea of Japan. It is part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

Japanese officials say a ballistic missile fired from North Korea’s western coast is believed to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the missile was fired around 9:40 a.m. Tuesday and flew for 40 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan within waters where Japan claims economic rights.

He said no damage to aircraft or ships has been reported. Japanese media said the coast guard had cautioned ships about potential falling objects.

South Korean officials say North Korea launched another ballistic missile in the direction of Japan, part of a string of recent test-firings as the North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch was made from North Phyongan province. Other details were scarce. It wasn’t immediately clear if this was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect North Korea’s longer-range missiles.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump focused much of their first meeting on opposing North Korea’s development of atomic weapons that threaten both allies.</s>There's been a lot of nervousness associated with North Korea's Tuesday missile test. Many are calling it an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch capable of hitting Alaska. Others are using is as a rallying cry for action, and some of those people are sitting in positions of power in Washington D.C.

"The United States strongly condemns North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement. "Testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world."

Here's the thing, though: This didn't prove North Korea has fielded ICBMs, nor that it could nuke any part of Alaska. All Kim Jong-un and company did was fire a new kind of missile at a steep trajectory, which splashed down in the Sea of Japan. It represents progress and crafty engineering, but the regime still hasn't fielded an actual ICBM. Let's take the threat one step at a time and evaluate what this test seems to demonstrate—and what it doesn't.

Anytime North Korea launches a missile, it's worrisome. The regime is seeking long-range missiles to strike the United States mainland. They already have shorter-range missiles that could reach Japan, South Korea, and U.S. bases in the region. North Korea is testing new ballistic missiles with greater ranges, often with great fanfare and threatening language.

One consistent pattern we've seen is North Korea testing components of an ICBM on smaller missile. In May, 38north.org analyst John Schilling described the North Korean methodology: Test ICBM components on other rockets, avoiding expensive and provocative tests of larger systems. A series of smaller feats "would allow North Korea to conduct at least some of the testing necessary to develop an operational ICBM without actually launching ICBMs, particularly if it includes the same rocket engines."

So this test represents unwelcome progress, but it's not exactly the game-changing ICBM test everyone fears.

2) What Did the Missile Really Do?

The North Koreans took an existing missile and grafted a second stage on it, extending the range. Well, they did in theory, anyway. The North Koreans fired the missile at steep angle, so it reached an altitude of 1,740 miles but splashed down after going only 578 miles in 25 minutes. By comparison, an American two-stage Minuteman III can strike anywhere in the world within a half an hour. Now that's an ICBM.

What does it mean that the North Koreans are testing second stages? Schilling, in a recent interview with Popular Mechanics, says that two stage-missiles can work as ICBMs but they have tradeoffs:

"The advantage is reliability. North Korean single-stage liquid-fuel rockets, even of well-established design, only work about 80 to 90 percent of the time under combat conditions…For a single-stage missile, that level of reliability is tolerable, and if it doesn't work you just launch another one. If your missile needs three rocket stages and two separation mechanisms to work, then with typical North Korean engineering you're at about 40 percent reliability for the complete system. Cutting it down to two stages gets that up above 60 percent. But even with the lighter and more advanced structural design, the two-stage missile won't have the same range."

So it appears the North Koreans have made another incremental advance, but not one that immediately changes the region's geopolitical calculus. The North Koreans were the first to dub this missile an ICBM, and the United States and global media have adopted the term. It's scary, but misrepresents the step-by-step progress that the North Koreans are making towards testing an actual, fully integrated intercontinental ballistic missile.

In fact, even a fully operational two-stage ICBM wouldn't do what North Korea claims it already can do: Strike anywhere in the United States. Schilling told PM: "Our best estimate is that the three-stage KN-08 will be able to deliver nuclear warheads to a range of about 12,000 kilometers—enough to reach the U.S. East Coast, while the two-stage KN-14 with a 10,000-kilometer range will be limited to West Coast or Rocky Mountain targets."

3) Not the First

By the way, this is not the first missile that could hit U.S. territory if the trajectory was different. This fact may be a cold comfort, but it's a good reminder that a test flight does not equal an immediate threat. A May 2017 test of a two-stage rocket would have flown about 2,800 miles if launched on a flatter trajectory. That's far enough to hit sparsely populated islands in Alaska.

The July 4 test flew higher than any other North Korean rocket. If this trajectory were flatter, it could hit more parts of Alaska. That is, of course, a frightening thought, but follows the idea that North Korea's program is following incremental advances, not proving a fully completed ICBM system. And nothing against Alaska, but striking there even with a nuke means little from a strategic point of view if you can't aim at a major city or U.S. airbase. Is destroying an empty forest worth American retaliation?

4) It's Not All About the Rockets, Either

North Korea needs to work on a tricky warhead reentry. A reliable rocket is just the first step in a nuclear missile system. Other engineering hurdles remain, including the creation of a small nuclear warhead and a reentry vehicle that's tough enough to bring it to a target.

The reentry system is more than just tough—it has to be smart as well. Before the warheads even deploy, the reentry vehicle has to serve as a spacecraft that can release the payload and even (if it's clever enough) adjust its trajectory to aim at specific targets.

We don't know how advanced the North Korean nuclear warhead program is progressing, and the testing that must be done would be hard to spot. "It is necessary to verify that the warhead—which is a fairly precise piece of machinery including potentially sensitive electronic components—can survive the acceleration, shock, and vibration of a missile launch," Schilling says. "This is typically done on the ground, placing test articles in centrifuges, on shaker tables, and the like."

These many technical hurdles are part of the reason why experts often place a 2020 timetable on an actual ICBM test, a top-to-bottom demonstration of the global reach of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction. This test is a scary step in that direction, not the crossing of the finish line.
North Korea test-launches what is presumed to be its first intercontinental ballistic missile 933 kilometers into the Sea of Japan within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone. An American expert theorizes the ICBM, which reached an altitude of 2,802 km, could potentially reach the U.S. state of Alaska.