North Korea said it tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday morning, a launch believed to have achieved the longest flight time yet for a North Korean missile.

The new “improved” Hwasong-19 missile was launched just days before the US presidential election on Tuesday, and after warnings from South Korea’s intelligence agency that Pyongyang planned to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile to test its technology. of re-entry at the time of voting.

The test also comes as North Korea appears to have stepped up its nuclear production efforts and strengthened ties with Russia, deepening widespread concern in the West about the direction the isolated nation is taking.

North Korea said Friday that the new Hwasong-19 missile reached a maximum altitude of 7,688 kilometers (4,777 miles) and flew a distance of 1,001 kilometers (622 miles).

“The testing of the latest strategic weapons system…demonstrated the modernity and credibility of its most powerful strategic deterrent in the world,” the country’s state media outlet KCNA said in a commentary.

Japanese authorities reported that the missile flew for about 86 minutes and at a possible altitude of 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles), before falling into the sea west of Okushiri Island in northern Hokkaido around 8:37 a.m., off Japan’s exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK reported. saying.

“The flight time was the longest ever seen. Possibly the newest missile ever created,” said Japanese Defense Minister General Nakatani.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missile was fired at “a high angle,” meaning it flew almost vertically upward rather than outward, and traveled a distance of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). .

JCS spokesman Lee Sung-joon said it could have been a “new type of solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile” fired from a 12-axis mobile launcher (TEL) that Pyongyang unveiled last month.

Solid-fuel missiles, such as North Korea’s Hwasong-18, would allow Pyongyang to launch long-range nuclear strikes faster than with missiles using liquid-fuel technology.

Solid-fuel ICBMs are more stable and can move more easily to avoid detection before a launch that can begin in a matter of minutes, experts say, compared to liquid-fuel missiles that can take hours before launch. , giving time to the adversaries. to detect and neutralize the weapon.

State media published photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter at the launch site, as well as multiple photos of the missile along its journey.

Joseph Dempsey, a research analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said images released by North Korea showed the latest missile was “apparently similar in design to the Hwasong-18.”

“But when it comes to a solid, mobile, cold-launched ICBM, there is a form following function component, so we wouldn’t expect too much variation in overall design terms,” ​​he told CNN.

It appears to be the first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by North Korea since its Hwasong-18 missile test in December 2023. It also launched the weapon in April and July last year.

During the December test, Japanese authorities reported that the missile flew on a very high trajectory for about 73 minutes and at an altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles).

The missile in Thursday’s test flew higher than North Korea’s previous ICBM test, according to the South Korean military’s initial analysis.

While the missile had the range to strike anywhere in the United States, it would need to be fired on a flatter trajectory to reach the country.

The White House on Thursday condemned the test as “a flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said the launch “unnecessarily increases tensions” in the region and that the United States would “take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and the Republic of Korea and the Japanese allies.

In response to the missile test, South Korea and the United States conducted a large-scale joint air exercise involving about 110 aircraft that simulated “a precise attack on the enemy’s TELs,” the Defense Ministry said. Seoul.

“Our military will always maintain the readiness and capability to respond overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocation,” the ministry said.

Nuclear weapons technology and ties to Russia

Speaking at the launch site, Kim stated that his country “will never change its line of strengthening its nuclear forces,” KCNA reported Thursday.

In addition to an intercontinental ballistic missile test, South Korea’s military intelligence agency also warned that North Korea could soon conduct its seventh nuclear test.

On Wednesday, the agency said Pyongyang had completed preparations for such a test at its Punggye-ri test site, and that the test could be carried out around the time of the US election, according to two lawmakers briefed during a parliamentary meeting. regular.

Since conducting its first nuclear test more than a decade ago, North Korea has advanced its weapons capabilities, with ambitions to miniaturize a warhead so it can fit on a long-range missile.

The launch comes after U.S. and South Korean officials said thousands of North Korean troops are training in Russia, with the expectation that they are being prepared for a possible transfer to the front lines. Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Around 10,000 north korean soldiers are receiving military training in eastern Russia, the Pentagon estimated Monday. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that some troops have approached Ukraine and have received Russian military uniforms and are using Russian equipment.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun said North Korea is “very likely to ask” Moscow for advanced nuclear weapons-related technology in exchange for deploying troops to help Russia.

Pyongyang will likely ask Russia for technology transfers related to tactical nuclear weapons, the advancement of North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles, reconnaissance satellites and nuclear submarines, the minister said.

CNN’s Brad Lendon and Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting.

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