North Korea tests missile 'capable of hitting Chicago or Los Angeles'

Tom Powell29 July 2017

Kim Jong Un has issued a warning to the US after North Korea tested a missile allegedly capable of hitting Los Angeles, Chicago and Denver.

Analysts have concluded that a wide swathe of the US is now in range of North Korean weapons following the latest test launch.

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

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

Kim Jong-Un signs documents for the test launch
AFP/Getty Images

Analysts estimated that the North's first ICBM on July 4 could have reached Alaska, and said that the latest missile appeared to extend that range significantly.

Immediately after the launch, US and South Korean forces conducted live-fire exercises.

South Korean defence Minister Song Young-moo called for the deployment of strategic US military assets - which usually means stealth bombers and aircraft carriers - as well as additional launchers of an advanced US anti-missile system.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the missile flew for about 45 minutes - about five minutes longer than the first. The missile was launched on a very high trajectory, which limited the distance it travelled, and landed west of Japan's island of Hokkaido.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in