SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Thursday that it had test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that could strike the continental U.S. for the first time in almost a year, days before the U.S. presidential election.
The U.S., South Korea and Japan also characterized the weapon as an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, which can have a range of at least 3,500 miles and is designed mainly to deliver nuclear weapons. It is the first ICBM launch since December for North Korea, a reclusive nuclear-armed state that has been ratcheting up its rhetoric against the U.S. and its allies South Korea and Japan.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the missile test and was at the launch site, according to a Defense Ministry statement that was carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Kim characterized it as an “appropriate military action” in the face of what he said was intentional escalation of regional tensions by North Korea’s rivals.
“I affirm that the DPRK will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces,” Kim said, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
It was a surprisingly fast confirmation from North Korea, which usually provides details of its weapons tests the day after.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi and South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Cho Tae-yul condemned the launch in a joint statement Thursday and urged North Korea to "immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilizing actions."
The three countries also condemned the "deepening military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia, including continued unlawful arms transfers, as well as the recent deployment of North Korean troops to Russia."
The U.S. reiterated its defense commitments to South Korea and Japan, calling them "ironclad and backed by the full range of capabilities, including nuclear."
The missile was launched from a site near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, at 7:10 a.m. local time (6:10 p.m. Wednesday ET), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Spokesperson Lee Sung-joon said the missile was fired “at a very high altitude” and traveled more than 600 miles before it landed in the sea off North Korea’s east coast.
The launch might have been held so close to the U.S. election to strengthen North Korea’s negotiating leverage and grab attention, Lee said.
He said the weapon might have been fueled by solid propellants, which allow missiles to be launched faster and move more discreetly than liquid-fueled ones, and that it might have been fired from a 12-axle launch vehicle, which was revealed last month and is North Korea’s biggest mobile launch platform.
Lee agreed with Japan’s assessment that the missile traveled for about 86 minutes and reached a maximum altitude of about 4,350 miles, which is higher than previous North Korean missile tests.
The launch time is also the longest ever for a North Korean missile, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said.
Japanese officials said that the missile landed outside the country’s exclusive economic zone and that there were no reports of damage. Both Japan and South Korea condemned the launch as a threat to their safety, as well as that of the international community.
Later Thursday, the South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry announced new export controls on products that could be used in North Korea’s development of solid-fuel ballistic missiles.
In a statement, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett condemned the launch as a “flagrant violation” of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, saying it “needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region.”
According to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the launch did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory or to its allies South Korea and Japan, which host tens of thousands of U.S. service members.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries, which have been intensifying cooperation in the region, responded to the North Korean launch Thursday by conducting a large-scale joint air exercise, the South Korean military said.
There was little response from China, North Korea’s neighbor and most important trade partner.
Asked about the launch Thursday, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing had “consistently believed that maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula and advancing the political resolution of the peninsula issue serve the common interests of all parties.”
The launch came a day after South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Agency told lawmakers that North Korea could launch an ICBM around the U.S. election or even hold its seventh nuclear test, which has been expected for some time. North Korea’s last nuclear test was in September 2017.
The ICBM that North Korea launched in December, the solid-fueled Hwasong-18, had a lofted trajectory flight time that suggests a potential range of 9,300 miles on a normal trajectory, putting it within striking distance of anywhere in the mainland U.S.
However, experts say North Korea has yet to master the technology needed to build warheads small enough to be placed on those missiles and protect the warheads during atmospheric reentry.
Pyongyang, which is strengthening security ties with Moscow, is believed to have sent thousands of soldiers for training in Russia’s Far East, some of whom may have already moved toward Ukraine. The U.S. and others say that in exchange, Russia may be providing North Korea with key technology necessary to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
North Korea has said the deployment is a “rumor,” while Russian President Vladimir Putin did not deny the reports when NBC News asked him about them last week.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-hyun, condemned the deployment at their annual bilateral meeting in Washington on Wednesday.
Austin said that it would be “very disturbing” if North Korean soldiers entered the Russian fight against Ukrainian forces and that they could be killed as a result.
“Their actions have consequences, as all actions have consequences, and they need to be mindful of that in terms of what could happen,” he said.
On Thursday, Blinken estimated that 8,000 North Korean troops are in Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine’s border.
Stella Kim reported from Seoul, Arata Yamamoto from Oshu City, Japan, and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.