US to consider military response after N Korea launches ICBM

Pyongyang again defies UN ban on testing as missile travels 600 miles causing alarm across Japan

THE United States was considering “military response options” last night after North Korea carried out its second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile in a month.

The Pentagon confirmed that the missile, which flew for 45 minutes, travelled an estimated 600 miles and landed west of Japan’s Hokkaido island, was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It flew for six minutes longer than a previous one, on July 4.

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, has called a meeting of the national security council to assess the launch.

“I have received the first report that North Korea again launched a missile and it possibly landed inside the exclusive economic zone,” said Mr Abe.

He called the launch “a serious and real threat”, while Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s government spokesman, said: “North Korea’s repeated provocative acts absolutely cannot be accepted.”

US and South Korean military officials were last night discussing military options. Marine General Joseph Dunford was joined by Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of US Pacific Command, when they called General Lee Sun-jin, chairman of the South Korean Joint Chief of Staff.

“During the call Dunford and Harris expressed the ironclad commitment to the Us-republic of Korea alliance. The three leaders also discussed military response options,” said Captain Greg Hicks, a spokesman for Gen Dunford.

While the Pentagon has long planned for the possibility of conflict with North Korea, the blunt language in the statement marked a departure from previous public reactions to missile tests.

The Pentagon said it detected the launch almost immediately. Tomorrow the US will carry out another drill in Alaska, aimed at testing the country’s ability to shoot down any incoming projectiles. If confirmed, yesterday’s launch would be the fourteenth to be conducted by North Korea in 2017.

Pyongyang tested an ICBM on July 4 – a missile that experts believe could reach Alaska and be a game-changer in the North’s long-held aspirations to reach the continental United States with a projectile.

Mazie Hirono, a Democrat senator for Hawaii who sits on the armed services committee, said that her community – among the closest geographically to North Korea – was worried.

“We continue to be concerned because we know that Kim Jong-un will continue to do these launches,” she said. “We did just pass in the Senate a sanctions bill relating to Russia, North Korea and Iran. But there are more things we can do.”

South Korean media said the missile was launched from Jagang Province at 11.41pm local time (3.41pm GMT). Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, convened an emergency meeting of the national security council earlier today to discuss their reaction.