The United States on Saturday flew two Air Force B-1 bombers over South Korea in response to North Korea's ballistic missile test earlier in the day.

"North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability," Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, a Pacific Air Forces Commander, said in a statement released Saturday.

"Diplomacy remains the lead; however, we have a responsibility to our allies and our nation to showcase our unwavering commitment while planning for the worst-case scenario. If called upon, we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing," he added.

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The two B-1s took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam before flying over Japanese airspace and being joined by two Japan Air Self Defense Force fighter jets. The B-1s then flew over the Korean Peninsula and over the Osan Air Base in South Korea.

According to the statement, the mission lasted 10 hours and included formation and intercept training.

The display of force comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country's second flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) showed it could hit the U.S. mainland.

Kim expressed "great satisfaction" after the Hwasong-14 missile traveled 620 miles and reached a top height of 2,314 miles before landing in water off Japan's coast, Korean Central News Agency said, according to The Associated Press.

The state news agency said the test was intended to confirm technical aspects of the missile, such as its range, and it could be used to deliver a "large-sized, heavy nuclear warhead."

Kim was quoted by the state news agency saying that the test put the "entire" U.S. mainland now in range for a missile and underscored the country's ability to fire at "random regions and locations at random times," according to the AP.

The U.S. and South Korea fired missiles into waters off the South Korean coast on Friday in a show of force to North Korea following its missile test. The U.S. and South Korea conducted a similar test on July 5, in response to North Korea's launch of an ICBM on July 4.