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N Korea fires banned missile in longest flight yet | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
North Korea has been test-firing long range missiles such as the Hwasong-18, shown in this photograph from 13 July last year | North Korea has been test-firing long range missiles such as the Hwasong-18, shown in this photograph from 13 July last year |
North Korea has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, which flew for 86 minutes - the longest flight recorded by an ICMB - and over 1,000km (621 miles) before falling into waters off its east coast, South Korea's military said. | |
The launch comes at a time of deteriorating relations between the two Koreas and Pyongyang's increasingly aggresive rhetoric towards Seoul. | The launch comes at a time of deteriorating relations between the two Koreas and Pyongyang's increasingly aggresive rhetoric towards Seoul. |
The ICBM was fired at a sharply raised angle at about 07:10 local time on Thursday (22:10 GMT Wednesday). | |
South Korea had warned on Wednesday that the North was preparing to fire its ICBM close to the presidential election in the US on 5 November. | |
North Korea last fired an ICBM in December last year, in defiance of long-standing and crippling UN sanctions. | North Korea last fired an ICBM in December last year, in defiance of long-standing and crippling UN sanctions. |
ICBMs have the range to reach the North American continent. | |
Neighbouring Japan said that it monitored Thursday's launch, adding that the missile reached the highest altitude ever of over 7,000km. | |
South Korean and US officials met after the launch and agreed to "take strong and varied response measures", the South's military said in a statement. | |
"Our military maintains full readiness as we closely share North Korean ballistic information with US and Japanese authorities," it added. | |
The US called the launch a "flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions". | |
"It only demonstrates that [North Korea] continues to prioritise its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes over the well-being of its people," the White House's National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement. | |
Thursday's launch comes after South Korea and US accused North Korea of sending troops to Russia to support Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. | Thursday's launch comes after South Korea and US accused North Korea of sending troops to Russia to support Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. |
The Pentagon estimates that around 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to train in eastern Russia. A "small number" has been sent to Kursk in Russia's west, with several thousand more on their way, the US said earlier this week. | |
The alleged presence of North Korean troops in Russia has added to growing concerns over deepening ties between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. | The alleged presence of North Korean troops in Russia has added to growing concerns over deepening ties between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. |
Pyongyang and Moscow have neither confirmed nor denied these allegations. |