US President Donald Trump vowed "major sanctions" against North Korea after it tested a missile that experts said was capable of reaching Washington.

Following the test of its previously unseen Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday, the rogue regime claimed it had achieved its goal of becoming a nuclear state.

Kim Jong-un, its leader, "declared with pride that now we have finally realised the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force", the country's official news agency stated.

North Korea said the missile reached an altitude of 4,475km, 10 times that of the International Space Station, before splashing down in waters off Japan following a 53-minute flight.

Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: "Just spoke to President Xi Jinping of China concerning the provocative actions of North Korea. Additional major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled!"

Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, said the sanctions would probably target foreign banks that still do business with North Korea.

In London, the North Korean ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office. Mark Field, a Foreign Office minister, said: "North Korea claims it wants to bring security and prosperity to its people. But its actions are creating only insecurity and deepening its isolation."

The UN Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting late yesterday to discuss a response to the test.

Moon Jae-in, South Korea's president, said: "The situation can spiral out of control. We must stop a situation where North Korea miscalculates and threatens us with nuclear weapons, or where the United States considers a pre-emptive strike."

US and Chinese generals engaged in an unusual set of security talks yesterday, just hours after North Korea's most powerful missile test yet, focused on how the mighty American and Chinese militaries might communicate in a crisis.

The Pentagon stressed the talks were scheduled long before North Korea's surprise missile launch in the early hours of yesterday in Asia. Officials insisted the dialogue wasn't centred on North Korea or anything else in particular.

© Daily Telegraph, London

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