North Korea claims to have successfully test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The latest in a series of launches appeared to be the secretive state's longest-range ballistic missile launch to date - and took place just hours before America's Independence Day celebrations.

A US weapons analyst said the missile was capable of reaching Alaska, as US President Donald Trump urged China to "end this nonsense once and for all".

North Korea: A step closer to war?

:: Key steps in North Korea's nuclear ambitions

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.

Image: The missile reached an altitude of 2,802km and flew 933km, North Korea claimed

A female presenter proclaimed the North "a strong nuclear power state" which had "a very powerful ICBM that can strike any place in the world".

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)..

However, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said: "We assume it a medium long-range ballistic missile. But we still plan to devise necessary measures assuming it may have been an ICBM.

"If it is ICBM, we will need to come up with the corresponding measures."

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He added Seoul would continue to "resolutely deal with North Korean provocations in close co-operation with the international community while maintaining a strong defence with the (South) Korea-US joint forces, based on the strong Korea-US alliance".

Russia also disputed the North Korean figures and suggested the missile reached an altitude of 535km (332 miles) and flew only 510km (316 miles).

President 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!"

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017 ....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! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

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

He told Beijing it is "in its hands" to discourage Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, but described a "very encouraging" recent change in China's attitude towards taking the threat of North Korea "more seriously".

Mr Johnson told Sky News: "As this event shows, there is absolutely no grounds for complacency.

"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."

He added: "It's not trivial that we should maintain our own nuclear defences so that we're not vulnerable to nuclear blackmail from North Korea or anywhere else.

"In dealing with the rogue threat from North Korea, as the UK Government we will be escalating it at the G20, the UN and above all working with our Chinese partners.

"It is they who have the big economic relationship with North Korea, they have the influence, they are able to put pressure where no other country, frankly, can.

"What we want to see in the next few days is that kind of Chinese pressure."

Image: Mr Putin with his Chinese counterpart at the Kremlin in Moscow

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for China - which urged calm and restraint following the launch - and Russia to take more "constructive measures" to address the issue.



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.

David Wright, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said if the missile was fired at a "standard trajectory" it could hit a maximum range of roughly 6,700km (4,160 miles).

"That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska," he wrote on the organisation's allthingsnuclear blog.

Image: An expert says the missile could be powerful enough to reach Alaska

Earlier this week, North Korea was a key topic in phone calls between Mr Trump and the leaders of China and Japan - and will be discussed at this weekend's G20 summit in Hamburg.

The reclusive nation has continued with its missile programme despite painful UN and unilateral sanctions - and described such punishment as an infringement of its right to self-defence.

Sky's Asia Correspondent Katie Stallard said: "This is a very serious development, if this is confirmed.

"It also now is going to present a real test of Donald Trump's strategy on this issue.

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"There will be serious concern in this region, and frankly, beyond. There are no easy answers to this problem.

"The clock on this is rapidly now ticking down. There is going to have to be some form of quite serious response to this."

Despite the progress, experts believe North Korea is years away from an ICBM fitted with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the US.