VIDEO | North Korea sends missile soaring over Japan, U.S. and Japan hold joint military exercise

North Korea has conducted its longest-ever weapons test, a nuclear-capable ballistic missile that flew over Japan and could reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.

The launch early Tuesday forced the Japanese government to issue evacuation alerts and halt trains.

It was the most provocative weapons demonstration by North Korea this year, as it pushes to develop a fully fledged nuclear arsenal capable of threatening U.S. allies and the American homeland and earning the country recognition as a nuclear state.

The United States strongly condemned what it described as North Korea’s “dangerous and reckless decision” to launch the missile over Japan.