North Korea puts Guam in range with latest missile test over Japan

Seoul

NORTH Korea's second missile launch over Japan in as many months flew far enough to put the US territory of Guam in range, a provocation that comes days after the United Nations approved harsher sanctions against Kim Jong Un's regime.

The intermediate-range missile fired from Pyongyang on Friday morning flew over the northern island of Hokkaido, reaching an altitude of 770 kilometres before landing in the Pacific Ocean. It travelled 3,700 kilometres, further than the 3,400 kilometres from Pyongyang to Guam, which North Korea has repeatedly threatened. "The range of this test was significant since North Korea demonstrated that it could reach Guam with this missile, although the payload the missile was carrying is not known," David Wright, a co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote in a blog post.