North Korea fires new ICBM in largest test since 2017

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in arrives to preside over an emergency meeting of the National Security Council at the presidential office in Seoul

North Korea fired what could be its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday, Tokyo and Seoul said, a dramatic return to long-range testing that sparked outrage from neighbours and the United States.

South Korea's military fired a missile barrage into the Sea of Japan in response to the ICBM launch, the first full-range test of Kim Jong Un's most powerful missiles since 2017.

Thursday's launch was a "breach of the suspension of intercontinental ballistic missile launches promised by" Kim, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said.

The United States also strongly condemned the launch as a Security Council violation that "needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing" the region. 

The missile was fired on Thursday afternoon from Sunan -- likely the same site as a failed test last week -- and had a range of 6,200 kilometres (3,850 miles), Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

"This is such an outrageous, unforgivable act," Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in Brussels where he was meeting with members of the Group of Seven.

A White House official later said Kishida met with US President Joe Biden on the G7 sidelines to discuss the launch, with Biden conveying Washington's "rock-solid commitment to the security of Japan and the Republic of Korea."

According to a Pentagon statement, they agreed that "firm responses, including further actions from the UN Security Council, are necessary."

- Hwasong-17 -

It has long coveted an ICBM that can carry multiple warheads and, Seoul and Washington say, has been testing the Hwasong-17, a giant ICBM first unveiled in October 2020.

From hypersonic to medium-range ballistic missiles, Pyongyang has tested a raft of banned weaponry in 2022, including two recent launches it claimed were of a "reconnaissance satellite".

A launch last week, likely of the Hwasong-17, ended with the missile exploding mid-air above the capital.

- Seoul 'disorganised' -

It is also taking advantage of Washington's deteriorating relationships with China and Russia, following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

South Korea is also going through a presidential transition, with Moon set to hand power to successor Yoon Suk-yeol in May, which creates foreign policy confusion, Hong Min, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.  

bur-st/dw

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