2nd N. Korea ICBM said to put U.S. cities in range

South Korean President Moon Jae-in presides over an emergency meeting today in Seoul. North Korea on Friday test-fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile, which flew longer and higher than its first earlier this month.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in presides over an emergency meeting today in Seoul. North Korea on Friday test-fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile, which flew longer and higher than its first earlier this month.

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said today that the second flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile showed his country can hit the U.S. mainland, hours after the launch left analysts concluding that a wide swath of the United States is now in range of North Korean weapons.

The Korean Central News Agency said Kim expressed "great satisfaction" after the Hwasong 14 missile reached a maximum altitude of 2,314 miles and traveled 620 miles before landing in waters off Japan.

The agency said the test was aimed at confirming the maximum range and other technical aspects of the missile that it maintained was capable of delivering a "large-sized, heavy nuclear warhead."

Analysts had estimated that the North's first ICBM could have reached Alaska, and they said Friday that the latest missile appeared to extend that range significantly, to include Los Angeles and Chicago.

Immediately after the launch, U.S. and South Korean forces conducted live-fire exercises. South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo called for the deployment of strategic U.S. military assets -- which usually means stealth bombers and aircraft carriers -- as well as additional launchers of an advanced U.S. anti-missile system.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the missile, launched late Friday, flew for about 45 minutes -- about five minutes longer than the ICBM North Korea test-fired July 4. The missile was launched on very high trajectory, which limited the distance it traveled, and landed west of Japan's island of Hokkaido.

Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying that 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 range. The agency said that the test confirmed important features of the missile system, such as the proper separation of the warhead and controlling its movement and detonation after atmospheric re-entry.

Kim said the launch sent a "serious warning" to the United States, which has been "meaninglessly blowing its trumpet" with threats of war and stronger sanctions, the news agency reported.

The North Korean flight data were similar to assessments by the United States, South Korea and Japan.

David Wright, a physicist and co-director of the global security program 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. That means it could have reached Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago, depending on variables such as the size and weight of the warhead that would be carried atop such a missile in an actual attack.

President Donald Trump issued a statement condemning the missile test as a threat to the world and rejecting North Korea's claim that nuclear weapons ensure its security. "In reality, they have the opposite effect," he said.

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.

Washington and its allies have watched with growing concern as Pyongyang has made significant progress toward its goal of having all of the U.S. within range of its missiles to counter what it labels as U.S. aggression. There are other hurdles, including building nuclear warheads to fit on those missiles and ensuring reliability. But many analysts have been surprised by how quickly Kim has developed North Korea's nuclear and missile programs despite several rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions that have squeezed the impoverished country's economy.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the launch a "serious and real threat" to the country's security.

Suga said Japan has lodged a strong protest with North Korea. "North Korea's repeated provocative acts absolutely cannot be accepted," he said.

A spokesman for Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday that Dunford met at the Pentagon with the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Adm. Harry Harris, to discuss U.S. military options in light of North Korea's missile test.

The spokesman, Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, said Dunford and Harris placed a phone call to Dunford's South Korean counterpart, Gen. Lee Sun Jin. Dunford and Harris "expressed the ironclad commitment to the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance," Hicks said, referring to the U.S. defense treaty that obliges the U.S. to defend South Korea.

The Hwasong 14 ICBM test-fired earlier this month was also launched at a very steep angle, a technique called lofting, and reached an altitude of more than 1,550 miles before splashing down in the ocean 580 miles away. Analysts said that missile could be capable of reaching most of Alaska or possibly Hawaii if fired in an attacking trajectory.

Information for this article was contributed by Robert Burns, Hyung-jin Kim, Darlene Superville, Kim Tong-hyung, Edith Lederer and Elaine Ganley of The Associated Press.

A Section on 07/29/2017

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