North Korea test-fires ICBM with range to strike U.S.; second launch in two days

North Korea launched another long-range ballistic missile on Monday with a potential capability of striking the United States, Seoul and Tokyo officials said, extending a record-breaking number of weapons tests this year that have been condemned by the West.

The firing followed the test of a shorter range missile on Sunday night, with the back-to-back launches coming immediately in the wake of another bout of fearsome rhetoric between North Korea and the US-South Korean allies.

South Korea's military said it had detected the launch of a long-range ballistic missile from the Pyongyang area on Monday that flew 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) before splashing down in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.

The South reported the missile flew up rather than across, a method Pyongyang has previously said it employs in some weapons tests to avoid flying over neighbouring countries.

Japan's defence ministry said it was an ICBM-class missile with a potential range covering all of the United States.

"The ICBM-class ballistic missile launched this time, if calculated based on the trajectory, depending on weight of warhead, could have a flying range of over 15,000 kilometres (9,320 miles)," said Shingo Miyake, parliamentary vice-minister of defence.

(AFP)