WASHINGTON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed on Tuesday that the latest missile test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

In response to the DPRK's latest missile test, the United States and South Korea conducted a missile drill by firing short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan, the U.S. Army said in a statement.

Calling the test of the ICBM "a new escalation of the threat" to the United States, its allies and the world, Tillerson said in a statement that the United States intends to bring the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue before the UN Security Council and enact stronger measures against the DPRK.

While stressing that the United States will not accept a nuclear-armed DPRK, Tillerson said the United States seeks only the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

According to an earlier statement by the U.S. Pacific Command, the U.S. military detected and tracked what it assessed was a DPRK missile launch at 2:40 p.m. Hawaii time Monday (0040 GMT Tuesday) near the Panghyon Airfield.

At that time, the U.S. military called the DPRK test as a single launch of a land-based, intermediate range ballistic missile.