North Korea test fires inter-continental ballistic missile; sparks tension with Japan, South Korea, US

[caption id=“attachment_3781665” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] North Korea successfully tested an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM),  Hwasong-14 on 4 July, in the culmination of a decades-long ambition. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3781631” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The launch was overseen by country’s leader Kim Jong-Un, who has overseen three nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3781635” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The ballistic missile was fired from a site in North Phyongan province, and reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometers and flew for 933 kilometers.Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3781637” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The launch was latest in in a series of provocations that have ratcheted up tensions with South Korea, Japan and United States. The United Nations has already imposed multiple sets of sanctions on Pyongyang over its weapons programmes. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3781639” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] North has long sought to build a rocket capable of delivering an atomic warhead to the continental United States — something that US President Donald Trump has vowed “won’t happen”. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3781683” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The launch has increased fears of conflict, as the Trump administration has suggested that military action was an option under consideration. Reuters[/caption]