programme, according to South Korea’s military. The missile launch briefly raised an alert in Japan’s Hokkaido island before authorities clarified that the missile had not hit their territory. All previous intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) launched by North Korea have been liquid-fuelled. Solid fuel missiles, which Pyongyang has long been seeking to develop, show better stability and are faster to prepare for launch than liquid-fuel missiles, making detection and destruction by US forces more difficult. The details of the launch are currently being analysed by South Korea.
The missile was launched at 7:23 am (22:23 GMT) and “followed a lofted trajectory and ‘travelled’ 1000 km [621 miles] before landing in the East Sea”, the South Korean military said. The launch has been denounced as a “brazen violation” of several United Nations Security Council resolutions by the United States’ National Security Council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson. She added that the US will “take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American territory and allies of the Republic of Korea and Japan.”
