North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Ahead Of South Korea-Japan Summit

North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday, just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet in Tokyo for a summit that was expected to be overshadowed by North Korean nuclear threats.

The launch is the North's first ICBM test in a month and the third weapons test this week, as South Korean and US troops continue joint military exercises that Pyongyang regards as a dress rehearsal for an invasion.

South Korea's military said a North Korean ICBM launched from North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, flew towards the Korean Peninsula's eastern waters around 7.10 a.m. (local time). According to the statement, the ICBM was launched at a steep angle and flew approximately 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

It was not immediately clear which ICBM was launched, but North Korea's long-range missiles are primarily designed to strike the United States. Previous launches have demonstrated that North Korea's weapons have the range to reach the entire US mainland, but some foreign experts remain sceptical that the North has mastered the technologies necessary to build warheads small enough to be placed on those missiles and protect the warheads during atmospheric reentry.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said before travelling to Tokyo for a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, “North Korea's reckless provocations will pay the clear price.”

According to Yoon's office, during an emergency security meeting on the North Korean launch, Yoon instructed the South Korean military to thoroughly continue its ongoing exercises with US forces, conduct some of the planned joint drills in an intensive manner, and strengthen Seoul-Washington-Tokyo security cooperation.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea said in a statement that it will maintain firm readiness based on the military capability to “overwhelmingly” respond to any provocation by North Korea.

“We must further strengthen cooperation among allies and like-minded countries,” Kishida said in Tokyo. He declined to comment on North Korea's possible launch intentions.

After an hour-long flight, the missile most likely landed in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada. The landing site is about 250 kilometres (155 miles) off the western island of Oshimaoshima, close to where other North Korean ICBMs have crashed after test flights in recent months.