Senior U.S. and South Korean military leaders have held emergency consultations following the launch of another intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) by North Korea.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) says the missile was launched into the East Sea from the vicinity of Mupyong-ri, Jagang Province, at around 11:41 p.m. Friday, reaching a maximum altitude of three-thousand-700 kilometers and flying a distance of around one-thousand kilometers.

The missile may be more advanced than the North’s previous ICBM, Hwasong-14, which flew a shorter distance at lower altitude in a separate test launch on July fourth.

It's the first time the North is known to have launched a long-range or a mid-range missile from Jagang Province near the border with China. 

Analysts say the North could have chosen the night time for the launch to gauge the South Korean and the U.S. militaries’ preparedness or to avoid the window of time when the allies operate their missile interception system.

North Korean missiles have now been demonstrated to be theoretically capable of reaching the U.S. mainland past San Francisco.

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