N Korea missile was ICBM

North Korea has test-fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile, which flew longer and higher than the first.

Leading analysts said that a wide swathe of the US including Los Angeles and Chicago is now within range of Pyongyang’s weapons.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the missile, launched late yesterday, flew for about 45 minutes – about five minutes longer than the ICBM North Korea test-fired on July 4.

“We assess that this missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile, as had been expected,” Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said in Washington.

The missile was launched on a very high trajectory, which limited the distance it travelled, and landed west of Japan’s island of Hokkaido.

David Wright, a physicist and co-director of the global security programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in Washington that if reports of the missile’s maximum altitude and flight time are correct, it would have a theoretical range of about 6,500 miles.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the launch a “serious and real threat” to the country’s security.

Mr Suga said Japan has lodged a strong protest with North Korea.

“North Korea’s repeated provocative acts absolutely cannot be accepted,” he said.