North Korea has tested a long-range ballistic missile that is theoretically capable of striking anywhere on the US mainland, Japan officials said, in the regime’s first round of missile tests for about a month, writes The Guardian.

The missile appeared to have flown about 1,000km and reached a maximum altitude of more than 6,000km before landing in the sea east of the Korean peninsula on Monday.

Shingo Miyake, Japan’s parliamentary vice-minister of defence, said the missile could have a range of over 15,000km, depending on the trajectory and size of the warhead. “In which case the whole of the US territory would be within the range”, Miyake said, adding that authorities would need to confirm the missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).