Japan warns that North Korean latest ballistic missile had potential of reaching US mainland

North Korea's latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile had enough range to reach the American mainland territories, Japan's defence minister warned.

Yasukazu Hamada made this troubling statement following an urgent meeting with the leaders of South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US Vice President that was held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok on November 18, NDTV reported.

"Based on calculations taking the trajectory into account, the ballistic missile this time around could have had a range capability of 15,000km, depending on the weight of its warhead, and if that's the case, it means the US mainland was within its range," BBC cited the minister as saying. 

US Vice President Kamala Harris called North Korea’s latest act “an unlawful, destabilising act” and told reporters, that “on behalf of the United States I reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our Indo-Pacific alliances. Together the countries represented here will continue to urge North Korea to commit to serious and sustained diplomacy”.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida forecasted warned that there is the possibility that North Korea will launch further missiles, while his South Korean counterpart, Han Duck-soo, called the launch by the North a "great provocation" that violated UN Security Council resolutions.