US Officials Says "North Korea May Hit Most Of the United States"

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 North Korea's latest test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has shown that Pyongyang now may be able to reach most of the continental United States, two US officials told Reuters on Monday. 

 The assessment, which the officials discussed on condition of anonymity, underscored the growing threat posed by Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, and could add pressure on President Donald Trump's administration to respond.

 North Korea said on Saturday it had conducted another successful test of an ICBM that proved its ability to strike America's mainland. The secretive North's leader, Kim Jong Un, supervised the midnight launch of the missile on Friday night and called it a "stern warning" to the United States that it would not be safe from destruction if it tried to attack, the official KCNA news agency said.

 Two separate US officials who discussed the latest test, which lasted about 45 minutes, said it showed greater range than the July 4 ICBM launch, which North Korea said lasted 39 minutes. 

 The ejection test was carried out on land at Sinpo Naval Shipyard on Sunday, the US defense official told CNN. It gave no other details about the increased submarine activity. Ejection tests from submarines usually gauge the ability to "cold launch" missiles, when high pressure steam is used to propel missiles out of launch canisters.

 The shipyard is in Sinpo, a port city on the east coast where the North had previously conducted tests of submarine-launched ballistic missiles. A South Korea defence ministry official told Reuters the military was watching the situation in the North closely but did not provide more information because it was classified. 

 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke with Trump on Monday and agreed on the need for more action on North Korea, hours after the US Ambassador to the United Nations said Washington was "done talking about North Korea". 

 Independent weapons experts also said they believed the launch demonstrated many parts of the United States were within range if the missile had been launched at a flattened trajectory.

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