North Korea fired a suspected long-range ICBM into the sea, South Korea said Military Affairs

North Korea is believed to have test-fired a cruise missile, South Korea reported.

North Korea has launched a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into waters off its east coast, South Korea’s military said, in what is believed to be the longest flight of a North Korean missile.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement that the missile launched in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of ​​Japan, was detected at around 7:10am local time (22:10 GMT).

“The North Korean missile appears to be an ICBM fired from a high altitude,” the JCS said in a text message, Yonhap news agency reported.

North Korea’s launch of long-range missiles on a “high trajectory” means firing the missile almost straight up. This allows the missile to travel to a higher point but then stay a short horizontal distance from the launch point.

Such launches are said to allow Pyongyang to collect data sent back from missile tests to better understand the challenges it faces when a long-range warhead re-enters Earth’s atmosphere.

Japan’s Defense Minister, Gen Nakatani, said the missile, which was expected to land about 300km (190 miles) west of Okushiri Island, north of Hokkaido, had flown longer than any of Pyongyang’s previous missiles.

“It was the longest flight of any missile so far,” Nakatani told reporters.

“I think it might be different from normal missiles,” he said.

North Korea has not launched a ballistic missile since September this year and has not launched an ICBM since December 2023, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

The latest missile launch was reported a day after South Korea’s military intelligence agency told lawmakers that North Korea may have completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test and is close to testing a long-range missile that could reach the United States.

The launch also comes amid concerns about North Korea sending troops to Russia to support its war with Ukraine.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun on Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said North Korean soldiers wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are heading to Ukraine, in what he called a dangerous and escalating development.

South Korea reports that North Korea has sent more than 11,000 soldiers to Russia and more than 3,000 of them have been brought closer to fighting in western Russia.