US confirms North Korea's ICBM test

Washington, July 5 (IANS) US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed on Tuesday that the latest missile test by North Korea was with an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).

In response to the North Korea's latest missile test, the US and South Korea conducted a missile drill by firing short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan, Xinhua quoted the US Army as saying.

Calling the test of the ICBM "a new escalation of the threat" to the US, its allies and the world, Tillerson said in a statement that the US intends to bring the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue before the UN Security Council and enact stronger measures against North Korea.

While stressing that the US will not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, Tillerson said the US seeks only the peaceful denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

According to an earlier statement by the US Pacific Command, the US military detected and tracked what it assessed was a North Korean missile launch at 2:40 p.m. Hawaii time on Monday near the Panghyon Airfield.