The weapon landed in the seas off the Japanese island of Hokkaido as Pyongyang escalated tensions in the region.
North Korea has fired what neighboring countries said appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a day after it launched a smaller missile and warned of “fiercer military responses” to the United States for increasing its presence of security in the region.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the weapon, which reached an altitude of 6,000 km (3,730 miles), was capable of traveling up to 15,000 km (9,320 miles), giving it the range to reach in the continental United States.
The test missile traveled 1,000 km (622 miles) on a high trajectory and landed about 200 km (124 miles) west of Oshima-Oshima Island in northern Hokkaido Prefecture, according to Japanese officials.
“We have naturally lodged a strong protest against North Korea, which has repeated its provocations with unprecedented frequency,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters in Thailand, where he is attending the Cooperation Summit meeting Economic Asia-Pacific. His remarks were broadcast live in Japan.
“We have said (Pyongyang) that we absolutely cannot tolerate such actions.”
South Korea’s defense ministry also described the missile as a probable ICBM, which is designed to carry a nuclear warhead.
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday as its foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, warned of “fierce military responses” to moves by the United States to increase its military presence in the region, saying Washington was making a “bet it will regret.” “.
In a statement carried by state media, Choe condemned Sunday’s trilateral summit of Japan, South Korea and the US during which the countries’ leaders criticized Pyongyang’s weapons tests and pledged greater cooperation on safety
North Korea has conducted an unprecedented number of ballistic missile tests, which are banned by United Nations resolutions imposed on Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear weapons programs, and there are concerns that it may soon its first nuclear test since 2017.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Seoul’s Ewha University, told Al Jazeera that more countries needed to hold the North accountable for its actions, noting that the country “was developing illegal nuclear weapons and missiles, planning a long-term struggle against its neighbor.” and flagrantly abusing human rights”.
“Their pariah state behavior is not just a problem for Washington and its allies, but a growing global threat,” Easley said in an email.
After a meeting last week on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, the leaders of Japan, South Korea and the United States warned Pyongyang against such a test, with North American Joe Biden reiterating that Washington’s commitment to defend Seoul and Tokyo “was supported”. with the whole range of capabilities, including nuclear”.
The leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, also “strongly condemned” North Korea’s “unprecedented number of ballistic missile launches” and pledged to “forge ties even closer trilateral, in the field of security and beyond”. .