North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea off Japan on Friday, the Pentagon has confirmed. It landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone just hours after Tokyo announced it would increase its sanctions on the North. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said this latest launch “clearly shows the threat to our nation’s safety is severe and real,” and means that increasing pressure on the hermit nation is unavoidable. The launch had been expected, and the missile traveled for about 1,000 kilometers, or 620 miles, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Earlier this month around America’s Fourth of July holiday, North Korea fired its first successful ICBM, a weapon experts say may be capable of reaching Alaska.

Source: Huffington Post July 28, 2017 15:34 UTC