JAPAN SAYS NEW NORTH KOREAN MISSILE IS CAPABLE OF REACHING ANYWHERE IN U.S. Marking its second missile launch in hours
North Korea fired an ICBM-class missile on Monday, December 18th, with a range capable of reaching anywhere in the United States, a Japanese official said, marking its second missile launch in hours as Pyongyang condemned a U.S.-led show of force as ‘war’ moves.
The ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) has the potential to travel more than 15,000 km (9,300 miles), meaning it can reach anywhere in Japan and the mainland United States, Japan’s Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense Shingo Miyake said.
Miyake added that the flight lasted 73 minutes, just short of the 74-minute flight by an ICBM North Korea fired in July. It reached a maximum altitude of more than 6,000 km (3,728 miles) and fell into the sea west of Hokkaido outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Monday’s missile launch came after North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday, December 17th night, flying about 570 km and falling into the ocean, after which Pyongyang, in a classic case of finger-pointing, condemned the United States for orchestrating what it called a ‘preview of a nuclear war’.
