The ICBM, which is believed to be «two-stage, » officials said, would have a range of at least 3,500 miles, and thus be capable of reaching Alaska.
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday, military officials said, a significant step forward in Pyongyang’s weapons program and an escalation of a perilous nuclear standoff with the United States.
The United States condemned the test-launch, firing warning missiles and vowing to hold the regime accountable at the United Nations.
The ICBM, which is believed to be «two-stage, » officials said, would have a range of at least 3,500 miles and thus be able to reach Alaska.
The North Korean regime earlier Tuesday claimed that it successfully fired a long-range missile into the Sea of Japan, declaring itself a «proud nuclear state.»
«It is a major celebration in our history, » said an announcer on North Korean state television. North Korea «is now a proud nuclear state, which possesses [an] almighty ICBM rocket that can now target anywhere in the world.»
The Hwasong-14 hit its target precisely after flying for 39 minutes, state television said.
The test — one of several this year — was detected at about 9: 40 a.m. local time (8: 40 p.m. ET Monday) , a South Korean military official told NBC News.
In response, the United States and South Korea fired missiles into South Korea’s territorial waters off the east coast, the Seoul-based Eighth U. S. Army said — moves that could be seen as a warning message to the regime.
«North Korea’s serious provocation calls for responding more than just by statement alone, » President Moon Jae-in said, according to Yoon Young Chan, a spokesman. «We need to clearly show to North Korea our combined forces in total readiness to respond to missiles.»
Russia and China proposed that North Korea declare a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests while the United States and South Korea refrain from large-scale military exercises. The call was issued in a joint statement Tuesday after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chines President Xi Jinping.
U. S. President Donald Trump tweeted an apparent reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, asking: «Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?»
Trump suggested that the launch could lead China to «put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!»
Nikki Haley, the U. S. ambassador to the United Nations, requested an urgent U. N. Security Council meeting on the missile launch, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States “will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.
