The United States and South Korea have carried out joint ballistic missile drills in the Sea of Japan, after North Korea successfully tested an intercontinental missile that experts believe would be capable of reaching Alaska. North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, said this morning that the missile test was a Fourth of July “gift” to President Trump. The Pentagon also released a video last Wednesday of a U.S. long-range interceptor missile colliding with an intercontinental-range missile, as an apparent warning to North Korea. Tensions have been rising in recent months between the United States and North Korea. Earlier this year, the United States carried out massive military exercises in the Korean Peninsula and deployed an anti-missile system known as THAAD to South Korea, despite protests by South Koreans. The new South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, is also opposed to the THAAD missile system and last month ordered an investigation after learning that four more missile launchers had been brought into South Korea. After the North Korean missile launch, President Trump tweeted, “Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!” Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Russia and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where the two expressed their opposition to THAAD and the U.S. military drills in the region. In a joint statement issued Tuesday, China and Russia called on North Korea to suspend its ballistic missile program, and called on the U.S. and South Korea to cease their massive joint military exercises. The statement also calls on the U.S. to immediately cancel the deployment of the THAAD missile system. The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting today over the North Korean missile test.