North Korea says it conducted an intercontinental ballistic missile test on Thursday, in what CNN reports is believed to have been the longest ICBM launch by the North to date. According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missile was fired almost straight up into the air from an area near Pyongyang and traveled around 1,000 miles. Per South Korea, the missile flew for 87 minutes before landing in the sea off of Japan's Okushiri Island, reports Reuters.
The launch, the North's first of its kind since December, "was likely meant to meant grab American attention days ahead of the US election and respond to condemnation over the North's reported troop dispatch to Russia to support its war against Ukraine," the AP notes. A JCS spokesperson tells CNN that the ICBM in question could be a "new-type solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile," which would give the North the capability to launch quicker attacks than if it relied on liquid-fueled missiles.
Kim Jong Un had some words, and justifications, after the launch. "The test-fire is an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals, who have intentionally escalated the regional situation and posed a threat to the security of our republic recently, of our counteraction will," he's quoted as saying by KCNA, per Reuters. The White House responded Thursday to the launch, calling it a "flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions," while a National Security Council rep says the move "needlessly raises tensions" in the region, per CNN. (More North Korea stories.)
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