Kim Jong-un leads his daughter to inspect the missile launch site

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter appear at the ICBM launch site in this photo released on November 19. Photo: KCNA

The missile - launched from Pyongyang International Airport - flew 999.2 km for 4,135 seconds at an altitude of 6,040.9 km and landed in international waters. KCNA added that leader Kim Jong-un personally observed the test along with senior North Korean officials. Photos released by KCNA showed Kim Jong-un, his wife and daughter in a command hut near the launch site.

KCNA quoted the North Korean leader as saying that the ICBM launch reaffirmed Pyongyang's strong and reliable ability to deal with any nuclear threats. He had previously said that North Korea would respond strongly to nuclear threats.

Meanwhile, the White House said the missile launched by North Korea on November 18, with a range believed to be able to cross the Pacific Ocean, did not pose a threat to the United States.

According to the French news agency AFP, White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said: "Regarding this launch, we do not believe it is a threat to the homeland."

The US State Department affirmed that North Korea's latest missile launch is evidence of the need to fully implement United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea in Seoul, the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea and the United States held the first meeting of the Korea-U.S. Missile Countermeasure Working Group (CMWG), an expert-level discussion group under the Korea-U.S. Deterrence Strategy Committee (DSC) to establish a broad policy foundation in the missile field.

According to a source from the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, the two sides assessed that North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and short-range ballistic missiles have reached the level of being capable of being tipped with nuclear warheads. Therefore, the two governments need to establish a mechanism for expert-level discussions on dealing with Pyongyang's missiles. Accordingly, the US and South Korea will strengthen the coordination mechanism between the two agencies and further accelerate policy cooperation to enhance missile defense capabilities.

In light of new developments on the Korean Peninsula, the UN Security Council is expected to discuss North Korea's Hwasong-17 ICBM launch on November 21.

A senior US administration official previously said North Korea's latest launch "is a long-range missile that can strike multiple countries", and said the UN Security Council should meet on the issue./.