North Korea has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile which flew about 1,000 km before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, the US said on Wednesday.
This is the first such launch in two months which comes just a week after the US slapped fresh sanctions on the reclusive nation and declared it a state sponsor of terrorism.
The US Department of Defence detected and tracked a North Korean missile launch today at about 1:17 pm EDT. Initial assessment indicates that this missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Pentagon Spokesman Col Rob Manning said in a statement.
"The missile was launched from Sain Ni, North Korea, and travelled about 1000 km before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, within Japan's Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ)," Manning said, adding that the Pentagon is working with its interagency partners on a more detailed assessment of the launch.
He, however, said that the missile launch did not pose any threat to the US or its allies.
"The North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America, our territories or our allies," Manning said.
According to the White House, President Donald Trump has been briefed on the issue.
White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a tweet that Trump "was briefed, while missile was still in the air, on the situation in North Korea".
Reacting to the incident, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said in a statement that North Korea's latest missile test highlights the urgent need for the Trump administration to produce a coherent strategy.
"Now is the time to learn from what President Bill Clinton achieved in the 1990s and engage in bilateral negotiations. As I've said previously, we must be willing to sit down with North Korea to explore all options to prevent them from developing dangerous capabilities," Khanna said.