North Korea fires suspected 'long range' ballistic missile

Factfile on North Korea's missile arsenal.

North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile Thursday, Seoul and Tokyo said, apparently continuing a weapons testing blitz that could culminate with a major, long-range missile launch.

South Korea and the United States have recently warned that Pyongyang appears to be preparing to test-fire an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) at full range for the first time since 2017.

Despite biting international sanctions over its weapons programs, Pyongyang has doubled-down on Kim's drive to modernise its military, and last week conducted a failed test of what analysts suspect was a new, long-range ICBM.

The Yonhap news agency reported that it was a "suspected long-range ballistic missile", citing Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Pyongyang attempted to fire an ICBM at the Sunan airport last week but failed," Go Myong-hyun, senior researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told AFP.

- ICBM coming? -

It also recently twice tested what it claimed were components of a "reconnaissance satellite" -- although Seoul and Washington said it was a new intercontinental ballistic missile system.

The United States said the tests were a "serious escalation" and would be punished with fresh sanctions, warning that North Korea appeared to be preparing for a long-range ICBM test, possibly disguised as a space launch.

The North's state media has stayed mum on that launch but analysts have suggested it was of Pyongyang's so-called "monster missile" -- the Hwasong 17, a new ICBM system that had never been launched before.

Any such launch would mark the end of Pyongyang's self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range and nuclear weapons -- and send military tensions soaring on the Korean peninsula and beyond.

"But the moratorium was virtually scrapped when the North carried out tests for space launch vehicles. And what is also key is whether Pyongyang will make today's launch official."

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Originally published as North Korea fires suspected 'long range' ballistic missile