US urges global community to send unified message to North Korea to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs

"The #DPRK’s relentless and unlawful pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them must be reversed. Together, with the international community, we must send a unified message to #NorthKorea that it must abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert tweeted.

"The goal for our maximum pressure campaign, which more than 20 countries have joined, is to use economic & political pressure to persuade the #NorthKorea regime it needs to reconsider the path it is on & think about engaging in a meaningful dialogue about a different future," Nauert said.

President Donald J. Trump spoke with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launch.

"President Trump underscored the determination of the United States to defend ourselves and our allies from the growing threat posed by the North Korean regime. President Trump emphasized the need for China to use all available levers to convince North Korea to end its provocations and return to the path of denuclearization," the White House said in a statement.

After a brief hiatus in what is seemingly a daily routine for North Korea, Kim and his men fired another missile, reportedly their highest ever, according to US Defence Secretary James Mattis.

The missile was launched on Wednesday early morning and landed in Japanese waters.

According to South Korea sources, the missile travelled a distance of 960 kilometres and reached a height of 4,500 kilometres (2,800 miles).

North Korea last conducted a missile test in September.