US: North Korea fires intercontinental ballistic missile toward Japan

North Korea fired a ballistic missile early Wednesday, the first such launch in two months and just a week after the US slapped fresh sanctions on the hermit state and declared it a state sponsor of terrorism.

The Pentagon said it detected and tracked a single North Korean missile launch and believes it was an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said Tuesday that the missile was launched from Sain Ni, North Korea, and traveled about 1,000 kilometers (about 620 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan.

Manning said the Pentagon’s information is based on an initial assessment of the launch and a more detailed assessment was in the works.

Early Wednesday in Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga echoed the claims that North Korea fired an unidentified missile. He said it landed in the Sea of Japan, possibly within 200 nautical miles of the Japanese coast. He called the provocation unacceptable and said Tokyo has filed a strong protest.

The launch was the first since September 15 when North Korea fired an intermediate ballistic missile.

US President Donald Trump was briefed on a North Korea ballistic missile test while it was still in the air, the White House said Tuesday.

Trump was visiting Congress at the time of the launch and “was briefed, while the missile was still in the air, on the situation in North Korea,” according to press secretary Sarah Sanders.

A week ago, the Trump administration declared North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, further straining ties between governments that are still technically at war. Washington also imposed new sanctions on North Korean shipping firms and Chinese trading companies dealing with the North.

North Korea called the terror designation a “serious provocation” that justifies its development of nuclear weapons.