U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has confirmed North Korea's claim that it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight.
"The United States strongly condemns North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile," Tillerson said in a statement. "Testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world."
He continued, "Global action is required to stop a global threat. Any country that hosts North Korean guest workers, provides any economic or military benefits, or fails to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime. All nations should publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences to their pursuit of nuclear weapons."
In his statement, Tillerson confirmed that the Trump administration sought a meeting with the United Nations Security Council, which a spokesperson for Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, had told ABC News earlier in the day.
"We intend to bring North Korea's provocative action before the UN Security Council and enact stronger measures to hold the DPRK accountable," Tillerson said in a statement. "The United States seeks only the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the end of threatening actions by North Korea. As we, along with others, have made clear, we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. The President and his national security team are continuing to assess the situation in close coordination with our allies and partners."
The United States Mission to the United Nations confirmed that the Security Council session will be held Wednesday at 3 p.m.
"A short time ago, Ambassador Nikki Haley and her counterparts from Japan and the Republic of Korea requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting to be held in the open chamber in response to North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch," the Mission said in a statement Tuesday night.
An assessment of the launch is ongoing, a U.S. official said, adding that North Korea’s missile advancements help demonstrate how it can now fire its missiles on short notice.
According to a U.S. official, in recent months the U.S. military has updated its military options for North Korea. Particularly, the addition of scenarios and possible proportional U.S. reactions to North Korean provocations. The launch of the Hyunmoo II missiles is likely an example of the proportional responses updated in those options.
After initial reports on the North Korean launch, which President Donald Trump tweeted about, U.S. Pacific Command first described the missile as an intermediate range ballistic missile, not an ICBM.
According to the U.S. and South Korea, the missile was launched into a high trajectory of 1,730 miles in altitude and flew horizontally about 575 miles, into the Sea of Japan.
The missile emerged from an airfield in Kusong, a city in North Korea's far northwestern corner, an area used for launches in the past. U.S. officials said Monday that they were anticipating a North Korean launch but were keeping an eye on a facility in the eastern part of the country.
A spokesman for Japan's Cabinet said the missile landed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 miles from its shores.
In response to the launch, the U.S. Army and military personnel from South Korea conducted a missile exercise firing short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan, the U.S. Army said in a statement, "countering North Korea’s destabilizing and unlawful actions."