North Korea tests long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching US, Japanese prime minister says

Posted By: Ashley Smith
December 18, 2023 @ 7:15 am
Local News

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People sit near a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on Dec. 18, 2023. — Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile, testing a warhead that may be capable of striking anywhere in the continental United States, Japanese officials said.

Based on the flight trajectory, the launch appeared to have been an intercontinental ballistic mission with an estimated range of about 9,300 miles, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.

“Following [the missile launch] last night, North Korea launched another ballistic missile today,” Kishida said. “I have given instructions to the government to provide information to the public and conduct safety checks thoroughly. So far, no damage has been reported.”

Monday’s launch had been detected at about 8:24 a.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. It traveled about 1,000 km, or about 621 miles, before crashing into the East Sea, officials said.

The launch was a “a major provocation” that amounted to a disruption of the “peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula,” South Korean military officials said.

“Our military will maintain its ability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation while keeping a close eye on North Korea’s various activities under the strong U.S.-Korea united defense posture,” the Joint Chiefs said.

Following the test, the U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke via phone to his Korean and Japanese counterparts, Korean National Security Office Director Cho Taeyong and Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Akiba Takeo.

“The national security advisors condemned the test, which is a flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions,” the State Department said in a statement.

Japan’s Ministry of Defense, which on Sunday had issued a warning that North Korea may have launched a ballistic missile, asked vessels to alert Japan’s Coast Guard if they spot a fallen object, but not approach it. Vessels in the area were asked to pay attention to future information.

ABC News’ Alex Grainger contributed to this story.