North Korea's Newly Launched Ballistic Missile Could Actually Reach The US Mainland, Japanese Defense Minister Says

Launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBM (Photo via KCNA)

JAKARTA - North Korea's long-range ballistic missiles that have just been launched by Pyongyang have indeed 'only' fallen into Japan's exclusive economic zone, west of Oshima Island. But actually, the missile can fly and even touch the entire mainland United States.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said the missile was launched from a location near North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. The missile was airborne for 66 minutes before landing about 125 miles west of Oshima Island in Japan's exclusive economic zone, Saturday 18 February.

However, what was terrible was conveyed by the Minister of Defense of Japan, Yasukazu Hamada. Reporting from NBC News, Hamada has calculated that the long-range missile has a range of nearly 8,700 miles. This means that the entire mainland United States is within range of ballistic missiles.

The launches came a day after North Korea's foreign ministry threatened to take tough action -- claimed to be unprecedented -- against South Korea after announcing plans for a series of military drills with the United States.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said North Korea's actions had gone too far, thus increasing the provocation against the international community as a whole.

Speaking to reporters after the National Security Council meeting, Kishida said Japan had issued a very strong protest and would cooperate with the US and South Korea.