North Korea Missile Launch: US seeks urgent UN talks

The US has requested an urgent closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea’s latest missile launch.

North Korea said it has successfully test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which analysts said could reach Alaska.

A spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations said the meeting of the 15-member council was likely to be scheduled for Wednesday.

The launch took place just hours before America’s Independence Day celebrations, and just days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations were due to discuss steps to rein in North Korea’s weapons programme.

US President Donald Trump urged China to “end this nonsense once and for all”.

In January, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un boasted the country was in the final stages of preparing to test launch its first ICBM – a further step towards his declared goal of a nuclear weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland.

“It won’t happen,” Mr Trump vowed at the time.

If Tuesday’s test is confirmed as an ICBM launch, it would be considered a game-changer by countries looking to check North Korea’s attempts to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.

Mr Kim ordered and supervised the “landmark” Hwasong-14 missile launch from North Pyongan Province, state TV said.

North Korea said the missile reached an altitude of 2,802km (1,740 miles) and flew 933km (580 miles) for about 40 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Japan’s data seemed to back up these claims, with the defence ministry claiming the altitude “greatly exceeded” 2,500km (1,550 miles).

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the missile was believed to be an intermediate-range type, but the military was looking into the possibility it was an ICBM.

Soon after the morning launch, Mr Trump responded on Twitter: “North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?

“Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”

Britain also condemned the launch, with the Foreign Secretary urging China to step up pressure on North Korea.

“As this event shows, there is absolutely no grounds for complacency,” Boris Johnson told Sky News.

“China has it in its hands to put on a lot more pressure and we want to see that in the next few weeks and months.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the two countries would work together to resolve the crisis, and in a joint statement urged the US to halt its deployment of a missile shield in South Korea – which Washington argues is necessary to counter the Pyongyang missile threat.