North Korea said it tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday morning, a launch believed to have achieved the longest flight time yet for a North Korean missile.
The new “perfected” Hwasong-19 missile was launched just days before the United States presidential election on Tuesday, and after warnings from South Korea’s intelligence agency that Pyongyang was planning to launch an ICBM to test its reentry technology around the time of the vote.
The test also comes as North Korea appears to have intensified its nuclear production efforts and strengthened ties with Russia, deepening widespread concern in the West over the isolated nation’s direction.
The missile was fired at “a lofted angle,” meaning it flew almost vertically upwards rather than out, and traveled a distance of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
Japanese authorities reported the missile flew for about 86 minutes and to a possible altitude of 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles), before falling into the sea west of Okushiri Island in northern Hokkaido around 8:37 a.m., outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK said.
“The flight time was the longest ever. Possibly the newest missile ever,” Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said.