(A view of the test-fire of Pukguksong-2, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang February 13, 2017.KCNA/Handout)
North Korean forces reportedly launched another ballistic missile at around 9:40 a.m. local time, South Korean officials reported.
The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that Tuesday's launch came from an airfield in North Korea's northwestern Phyongan province, according to Reuters.
The missile was said to have landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), according to a Japanese defense official cited in a CNN report. Another Japanese official also corroborated the final destination of the missile, adding that it flew for about 40 minutes before landing in Japan's EEZ.
South Korean military officials claimed that the missile flew over 580 miles, Reuters reported. If the initial reports are correct, one estimate shows that the same missile could reach a maximum range of around 4,160 miles on a standard trajectory — enough distance to reach Alaska.
US Pacific Command also confirmed the launch, adding that it was a "single launch of a land-based intermediate range ballistic missile."
According to a James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies database that tracks North Korean launches, this would be the thirteenth long-range ballistic missile launch by the regime, and the fourth launch since Moon Jae-in took office. The July 4 launch also falls on a national holiday for the US, the third such launch since 2006 and 2009, according to Wall Street Journal editor Alastair Gale.
Shortly after the launch, President Donald Trump called out North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?"
"Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer," Trump continued. "Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"
(President Donald Trump shakes hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, during a dinner in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, June 29, 2017.Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
The launch comes days after Trump met with Moon Jae-in in Washington D.C., where they discussed North Korea's provocations.
"The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed," Trump said in a statement after the meeting. "And, frankly, that patience is over."
Moon Jae-in also set a stern tone by saying "threats and provocations from the North will be met with a stern response."