Army Col. Robert Manning, a spokesman for the Defense Department, has said DoD identified and tracked an intercontinental ballistic missile launched by North Korea, the Pentagon reported Tuesday.
The ICBM took off from the northern part of North Korea’s Pyongyang capital at 1:17 p.m. Eastern time and flew approximately 620 miles east before it landed in the Sea of Japan.
Manning said North Korea’s missile launch did not pose a threat to the U.S., North America, other territories and allies based on the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s assessment.
The New York Times also reported that the ICBM – Hwasong-15 – flew for 53 minutes and the missile launch marks the third ICBM test that North Korea conducted this year.
North Korea launched its first IBCM test in July followed by another missile launch in September.
Defense Secretary James Mattis expressed concern on North Korea’s latest IBCM test, which he said “went higher, frankly, than any previous shot they’ve taken.â€
“The bottom line is, it’s a continued effort to build a threat — a ballistic missile threat that endangers world peace, regional peace, and certainly, the United States,â€Â Mattis added.
North Korea’s missile test came a week after President Donald Trump reinstated the East Asian country’s state sponsor of terrorism designation and after the Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on foreign firms and agencies that have commercial ties to the country.
