(Bloomberg) -- North Korea shattered a two-month period of relative quiet by firing an intercontinental ballistic missile, in its first provocation since U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision this month to label the country a state sponsor of terrorism.
The U.S. and Japan said the projectile was fired early Wednesday Japan time from North Korea’s west coast at a lofted trajectory before landing in the Sea of Japan. South Korea’s military said it staged a “precision strike” missile exercise within minutes of the launch.
"I will only tell you that we will take care of it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday he will request an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said that the missile flew higher than any previous North Korean launch. He said the missile went higher than any previous test, and the South Korean response “made certain that North Korea understands they could be taken under fire by our ally.”
‘Ironclad’ Commitment
“Our commitment to the defense of our allies, including the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, remains ironclad,” according to the Pentagon statement. “We remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies from any attack or provocation.”
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert separately said that “diplomatic options remain viable and open for now.”
The yen fell as much as 0.5 percent, then pared losses to trade at 111.46 per dollar as of 5:55 a.m. in Tokyo, close to levels seen during earlier trading.
“People have got somewhat conditioned to some of these tests that we’ve seen,” said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners in Wellington, which manages about $7 billion. “It’s good that no one is panicking and the world isn’t hanging off every development, but on the other hand maybe we’re all a little bit complacent.”
Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said that the ICBM may have reached an altitude of 4,000 kilometers (about 2,500 miles). The Pentagon said in a statement that it traveled about 1,000 kilometers before splashing down in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, which extends about 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) off the coast.
The missile could have more than enough range to hit any part of the continental U.S., wrote David Wright, the co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists Global Security Program.
Lull Over
“If these numbers are correct, then if flown on a standard trajectory rather than this lofted trajectory, this missile would have a range of more than 13,000 km (8,100 miles),” he wrote on his All Things Nuclear blog.
The launch ends a lull in test activity by the Kim regime. North Korea’s last provocation was on Sept. 15 when it fired a second missile over Japan in as many months.
The pause in provocations had led to a softer tone toward the country from top U.S. officials including Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. In an interview earlier this month, Tillerson said he could envision talks with Kim Jong Un’s regime as a precursor to formal negotiations.
“Eventually we’re going to have one of those days where we’re both going to say, ‘OK, maybe it’s a good time to have that first conversation,’” Tillerson said during a trip to Asia, adding a caution: “Now, Kim could surprise us tomorrow with another missile launch.”
Terrorism Label
Earlier on the trip, Trump called on North Korea to “come to the table” to make a deal to end its nuclear program, and aides later said the president was genuinely interested in talks toward an agreement.
The launch follows Trump’s Nov. 20 decision to label North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism because of its threats of nuclear devastation and support of terrorist acts including assassinations on foreign soil. North Korea responded by saying the designation reminds the country it should keep hold of its "precious nuclear sword."
Kim’s regime conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, and has launched more than a dozen missiles this year as Kim seeks the capability to hit the continental U.S. with a nuclear weapon. The United Nations has imposed stringent sanctions on North Korea for its weapons tests.
On Nov. 14, the U.S. wrapped up strike force drills in the Western Pacific using three aircraft carriers -- the first such exercise in a decade. North Korea routinely complains about U.S. drills in the region, using them as justification to ratchet up its own weapons program.
(Updates with Trump, Mattis comments. An earlier version corrected a Pentagon quote in fourth paragraph to say ‘North America’, not ‘North Korea’.)
