North Korea’s latest ICBM possibly the longest-range test yet
Donald Trump says the launch will not change his approach to North Korea and that the US will ‘take care of it’
US Defence Secretary James Mattis said North Korea fired a missile that flew higher than those in previous launches, a move that ended a 10-week cessation of military provocations by Pyongyang.
Responding to North Korea’s most recent missile launch during a meeting with Republican Senators in Washington, President Donald Trump said “we will take care of it” and referred to the move as “a situation we will handle”. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson proposed a maritime blockade to isolate Pyongyang.
“North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile eastward from the vicinity of Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province, at dawn” on Wednesday, Yonhap News Agency quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying. Japan’s government estimated that the missile flew for about 50 minutes and landed in the sea in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, Japanese broadcaster NHK said.
Referring to the projectile as an intercontinental ballistic missile, Mattis said the launch was ”higher, frankly, than any previous shots” North Korea has taken.
Washington’s Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to be convened on Wednesday afternoon.