North Korea conducted a test launch of its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday morning local time, with a breakthrough flight duration of 87 minutes.
The Japenese government said the missile – flew in an almost vertical “lofted trajectory” – reached an altitude of 7,000km (4,349 miles) and traveled 1,000km (621 miles), as per Al Jazeera. It is unclear if the latest missile was nuclear-capable.
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“The flight time was the longest ever. Possibly the newest missile ever,” Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said, adding that the missile landed in the waters about 300km (190 miles) west of Japan’s Okushiri Island.
South Korean Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Lee Sung-joon said it could be a “new-type solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile” launched from a mobile launcher Pyongyang unveiled for the first time in September.
Experts said the launch likely did not test the missile’s reentry capabilities, one of Pyongyang’s hurdles in its long-range missile programs. However, they said a future launch at a normal angle could help verify that capability, as per NPR.
Pyongyang’s last ICBM test launch took place in December 2023, with a 74-minute flight time.
Though Pyongyang’s missile program – as well as its nuclear research program – has been in the works for decades, the latest breakthrough has led to speculations that it was made possible with military technology from Moscow, where Russian President Vladimir Putin said he “does not rule out military-technical cooperation” while signing a mutual defense pact with Pyongyang in June.
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Amidst recent reports of North Korean troops deployed to Russia and potentially to Ukraine soon to aid Moscow’s invasion, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) Chief Kyrylo Budanov claimed that Pyongyang would receive cash and nuclear know-how in exchange for providing Moscow with troops and weapons.
The test launch also came amidst high tension on the Korean Peninsula, where Pyongyang blew up all roads to South Korea two weeks prior, citing an alleged incident where Seoul dropped propaganda leaflets into North Korea using drones.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the test launch “an appropriate military action” addressed to “rivals, who have intentionally escalated the regional situation and posed a threat to the security of our republic recently,” as per the country’s state news agency.
US National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett called the launch “a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.”
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