North Korea says mainland US now within ballistic missile range

Kim Jong Un (AP Photo)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that the country’s second flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile shows that the country is capable of hitting the mainland U.S.

The communist leader said he reacted to the launch with “great satisfaction.”

The Hwasong-14 missile reached a maximum height of 2,314 miles and traveled 620 miles from the launch point before landing in waters near Japan on Friday.

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Analysts say the data suggests that a wide swath of the U.S., including Los Angeles and Chicago, is now within range of Pyongyang's weapons.

President Donald Trump said that the tests further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy and deprive its people. Trump says the U.S. will take all "necessary steps" to protect the homeland as well as U.S. allies in the region, including Japan and South Korea.

North Korea first test-launched the Hwasong-14 on July 4.

Kim said the launch sent a "serious warning" to the United States, which has been "meaninglessly blowing its trumpet" with threats of war and stronger sanctions, the KCNA said.

The North Korean flight data was similar to assessments by the United States, South Korea and Japan.

David Wright, a physicist and co-director of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that if reports of the missile's maximum altitude and flight time are correct, it would have a theoretical range of about 6,500 miles. That means it could have reached Los Angeles, Denver or Chicago, depending on variables such as the size and weight of the warhead that would be carried atop such a missile in an actual attack.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry denounced the launch as a "grave threat" to regional and international security. But the ministry also said South Korea will continue to try to reach out to the North and called for Pyongyang to accept Seoul's recent offer for talks to reduce animosities along their tense border and resume temporary reunions of relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.