North Korea has fired a banned intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), according to South Korea and Japan.
South Korea’s military responded with live-fire drills of its own missiles launched from land vehicles, a ship and aircraft.
It said it confirmed readiness to execute precision strikes against North Korea’s missile launch points as well as its command and support facilities.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Ministry said the ICBM missile fired from the Sunan area near capital Pyongyang traveled 1,080 kilometers (671 miles) while reaching a maximum altitude of over 6,200 kilometers (3,852 miles).
This indicated the missile was fired on a higher-than-usual angle to avoid reaching the territorial waters of Japan.
Japan’s Deputy Defense Minister Makoto Oniki provided similar flight details and said they suggested a new type of ICBM.
After arriving in Belgium for the Group of Seven summit meetings, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters the missile possibly landed near Japanese territorial waters off the northern island of Hokkaido.
“It’s an unforgivable recklessness. We resolutely condemn the act,” Kishida said. Tokyo’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the missile flew for 71 minutes and that Japan may search for debris inside its exclusive economic zone to analyze the North’s weapons technology.
Japan’s coast guard issued a warning to vessels in nearby waters, but there were no immediate reports of damage to boats or aircraft.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in called an emergency National Security Council meeting where he criticised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for breaking a self-imposed moratorium on ICBM tests and posing a “serious threat” to the region and the broader international community.
Earlier this month, leader Kim Jong Un said North Korea would soon launch multiple satellites to monitor military movements by the United States and its allies.
Thursday’s launch would be at least the 11th North Korean missile test this year, a frequency that has drawn criticism from the United States, South Korea and Japan.
President Joe Biden has claimed he is committed to achieving the “denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula.
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His predecessor Donald Trump held three high-profile summits with Kim but Mr Biden has rejected that approach saying: “What I would not do is what has been done in the recent past.
“I would not give him all he’s looking for, international recognition as legitimate, and give him what allowed him to move in a direction of appearing to be more serious about what he wasn’t at all serious about.”
