Even Chicago within range, U.S. expert says

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Saturday the second flight test this month of an intercontinental ballistic missile shows that his country can hit the U.S. mainland, a view shared by U.S. analysts who say a stretch from Los Angeles and Chicago now appears technically within range of the North’s weapons.

Kim expressed “great satisfaction” after the Hwasong-14 missile reached a maximum height of 2,314 miles and flew 620 miles before landing in waters off Japan, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

The agency said that the test was aimed at confirming the maximum range and other technical aspects of the missile it said was capable of delivering a “large-sized, heavy nuclear warhead,” according to the Associated Press.

noted that the unusual night launch showed North Korea’s ability to mount a surprise attack. The KCNA quoted him as saying the launch reaffirmed the reliability of the country’s ICBM system and an ability to fire at “random regions and locations at random times” with the “entire” U.S. mainland now within reach.

The July 4 test indicated that Alaska was technically in range, but not the U.S. mainland.

David Wright, co-director and senior scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote Saturday that Friday’s launch sent the missile on a “very highly lofted trajectory,” but that one flown on a standard trajectory would have a range of 6,500 miles.

A chart of U.S. cities “shows that Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago appear to be well within range of this missile, and that Boston and New York may be just within range,” he writes in his blog All Things Nuclear. “Washington, D.C., may be just out of range.”

What remains unclear, Wright said, is the mass of the payload the latest test missile carried. “If it was lighter than the actual warhead the missile would carry, the ranges would be shorter than those estimated above,” he said, referring to the chart of vulnerable U.S. cities.

Increasing alarm by Washington and its allies over the Friday night test was underscored by an immediate move by U.S. and South Korean forces to conduct live-fire exercises.

In addition, South Korean Defense Minister Song Youngmoo called for the deployment of strategic U.S. military assets.

In Japan, government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the missile flew for about 45 minutes — about five minutes longer than on July 4 — before landing west of Japan’s island of Hokkaido.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said he told SecKim retary of State Rex Tillerson by phone that the second missile test greatly increased the threat from Pyongyang. He said the two sides agreed to consider all means necessary to exert the utmost pressure on North Korea. They reiterated calls for new sanctions and to work closely with South Korea as well as China and Russia.

President Donald Trump condemned the missile test as a threat to the world and rejected Pyongyang’s claim that nuclear weapons ensure its security. “In reality, they have the opposite effect,” he said in a statement.

Trump said the weapons and tests “further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy, and deprive its people.” He vowed to “take all necessary steps” to ensure the security of the U.S. and its allies.

The United Nations Security Council will likely convene an emergency meeting early this week to discuss possible countermeasures, the South Korean news agency Yonyhap reported Saturday, quoting a government source.