Report: North Korea launches another missile

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency has reported that North Korea launched another missile early Tuesday.

U.S. defense officials confirmed that a missile was launched Sain Ni, North Korea in South Pyongan Province at about 3:38 a.m. local time (1:38 p.m. EST) and headed on an eastward trajectory.

Pentagon officials said that an initial assessment of the missile showed it to be a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile that traveled a surface distance of 620 miles and achieved an altitude of 2800 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. The 50-minute flight demonstrates that North Koreas ICBMs now have a range of about 8,000 miles – enough to hit either coast of the United States. It is still unknown whether their guidance and re-entry technologies are effective enough to deliver a payload on target.

U.S. officials were not pleased with the launch, but also said that they weren’t surprised by it.

“The United States strongly condemns North Korea’s launch of what is likely an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, indiscriminately threatening its neighbors, the region and global stability,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

The launch marks the 20th North Korean missile test this year and comes 74 days after their last launch on Sept. 15.

The Trump administration recently re-added the hermit kingdom to the list of international sponsors of terrorism. North Korea had been removed from the list by President George W. Bush in 2008.

“This designation will impose further sanctions and penalties on North Korea … and supports our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the murderous regime,” Trump said.

Last week, the U.S. issued new sanctions on several Chinese companies and a Chinese businessman who conducted hundreds of millions of dollars in trade with North Korea.

President Trump met with reporters Tuesday afternoon saying only that the launch would be dealt with although no specifics were given.

The United States, in partnership with Canada, will convene a meeting of the United Nations Command Sending States to include the Republic of Korea and Japan and other key affected countries to discuss how the global community can counter North Korea’s threat to international peace.

this is a developing story and will be updated as needed