North Korea test fires new intercontinental missile

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired a ballistic missile in the early hours of Thursday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to the report, the missile was fired towards the Sea of Japan.

According to the ministry’s preliminary estimates, the projectile was expected to splash down presumably at around 2:36 a.m. Moscow time (11:36 p.m. Wednesday GMT), around 300 km west of Japan’s Okushiri Island.

The projectile is likely to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flying along a steep trajectory.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said the duration of flight was 86 minutes, which is the longest-ever flight period, the altitude is estimated to exceed 7,000 km.

"We can presume that the missile was an intercontinental one, although we continue our analysis to determine whether it was of a new type," Gen Nakatani said.