The United States reportedly launched a precision missile to demonstrate its surgical striking ability following North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) test in 2017.

According to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward in his upcoming book "Rage," U.S. Forces Korea(USFK) launched a tactical missile that traveled 186 miles, or around 300 kilometers, before dropping into the East Sea.

This was in response to Pyongyang's testing on July 4, 2017 of its Hwasong-14 ICBM, which is capable of reaching the U.S.

Quoting various U.S. officials, including former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Woodward wrote that 186 miles was the "exact distance between the launching point of the U.S. missile and the North Korean missile test site."

He added that it was also the same distance to a tent where satellite photos showed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watching the missile launch.

Quoting Mattis, Woodward wrote that the U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha, Nebraska, "had carefully reviewed and studied OPLAN 5027 for regime change in North Korea -- the U.S. response to an attack that could include the use of 80 nuclear weapons."