On Thursday, November 3, North Korea launched an alleged new type of banned intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and two short-range missiles, forcing Japan to announce an evacuation and stop trains.
Pyongyang has stepped up its missile tests amid scheduled U.S.-South Korean military exercises due to end on Friday.
Hours after the alleged failed test, however, Washington and Seoul agreed to extend the large-scale exercise to an undisclosed date.
Failed launch
According to the South Korean military, the launch “presumably ended in failure”, the missile failed in flight.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that around 7:40 a.m., North Korea launched an ICBM from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, and then fired two short-range missiles from the nearby city of Kacheon an hour later, heading towards its eastern waters.
The missile flew at an altitude of about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) and flew about 750 kilometers (466 miles) before crashing into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, east of the Korean Peninsula.
A South Korean government source said officials suspect it was the Hwasong-17, North Korea’s most advanced ICBM, which was first successfully tested on March 24.
The United States state that the launch was in clear violation of UN resolutions.
North Korea has conducted a record number of missile launches this year, and the latest comes amid ongoing large-scale military exercises between the United States and South Korea that Pyongyang calls a “provocation”.