Hours after North Korea launched its latest ballistic missile test Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter saying it was “hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer.”
The test launch of North Korea’s first intercontinental ballistic missile, is a potentially game-changing development in what may be the world’s most dangerous nuclear standoff and, if true, is a direct rebuke to Trump‘s earlier declaration that such a test “won’t happen!”
Trump also tweeted out Tuesday, “North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?”
The launch appeared to be North Korea’s most successful missile test yet. A U.S. scientist examining the height and distance said the missile could potentially be powerful enough to reach Alaska
U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials say it flew for about 40 minutes and reached an altitude of 2,500 kilometres, which would be longer and higher than any similar North Korean test previously reported. It also covered a distance of about 930 kilometres.
WATCH: North Korea conflict a challenge for Trump
“Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all,” Trump said on Twitter.
Earlier this year, after North Korea claimed it was close to an ICBM test launch, Trump took to Twitter and said: “It won’t happen!”
— With files from the Associated Press