TOKYO/SEOUL/WASHINGTON- North Korea has fired a ballistic missile late at night, in an apparent show of its capabilities of attacking the United States any time, a development that is certain to prompt Tokyo, Washington and Seoul to put even stronger pressure on the reclusive communist state.The Japanese government said a ballistic missile was launched from North Korea at 11:42 p.m. Friday Japan time (2:42 p.m. GMT). The missile is believed to have fallen into Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan west of the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido, it said.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported that the country successfully conducted the second test-firing of its Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, adding that the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, viewed the test at the launch site.

It has been clearly proved that all areas of the US mainland are now within range of North Korean missiles, Kim was quoted as saying. Commenting on the rare missile launch late at night, Kim said that North Korea demonstrated its capabilities of conducting a surprise launch of an ICBM from a given place at a given time. North Korea previously fired ballistic missiles mainly in the morning, including in early hours.

The KCNA also said that the missile reached a maximum altitude of 3,724.9 kilometers, adding that the ICBM landed precisely at a target area set in high seas after flying a distance of 998 kilometers in 47 minutes and 12 seconds.

The missile showed better performances than the first ICBM that North Korea launched on July 4, indicating that the threat from North Korea is clearly increasing. The first ICBM flew a distance of 933 kilometers in 39 minutes, reaching an altitude of up to 2,802 kilometers.

According to the US-South Korea Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, the latest ICBM could have flown 9,000-10,000 kilometers, a distance enough to reach the US mainland, if it had been launched from a lower angle

Alarmed by the improved performance of North Korean missiles, Japan, the United States and South Korea are likely to work on putting greater pressure on Pyongyang, pundits said.

The US government also confirmed that the latest missile was an ICBM. In a statement, US President  Donald Trump condemned the ICBM launch and said, "The United States will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and protect our allies in the region."

Noting that the ICBM test is "only the latest reckless and dangerous action" by the nation, Trump said that these tests "further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy and deprive its people."

In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the United States "strongly condemns" the latest North Korean provocation and that all nations "should take a strong public stance against North Korea, by maintaining and strengthening UN sanctions to ensure North Korea will face consequences for its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them."

Tillerson also criticized China and Russia, saying that "the principal economic enablers" of North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs "bear unique and special responsibility for this growing threat to regional and global stability." (Jiji Press)