North Korea missile test – live: South Korea responds with own launches after Pyongyang fires banned ICBM
North Korea’s launch of its first intercontinental ballistic missile in five years has enflamed tensions in the region, with South Korea responding with its own set of live missile tests.
Pyongyang launched an apparent ICBM up to an altitude of some 6,000km before it plunged down into waters inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
It is the first such North Korean launch since 2017, after which a spring of diplomatic summits between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump led the former to declare a self-imposed moratorium on ICBM and nuclear tests.
The prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough has since dimmed. The White House, as well as neighbours Japan and South Korea, condemned today’s launch.
South Korea called it a “clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions” and test-fired a volley of its own smaller ballistic and air-to-ground missiles to demonstrate — it said — that it has the “capability and readiness” to strike targets in North Korea if necessary.
