North Korea on Saturday fired a long-range missile from its capital into the sea off Japan, according to its neighbors, a day after it threatened to take strong action against South Korea and the US over their joint military exercises.
According to the South Korean and Japanese militaries, the missile was fired at a high angle, apparently to avoid reaching its neighbors’ territory, and traveled about 900 kilometers (560 mi) within an hour at a maximum altitude of 5,700 kilometers (3,500 mi). flight.
The details were similar to North Korea’s November test flight of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, which experts said showed the potential to reach the US mainland if launched on a normal trajectory.
Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said no damage was reported from the missile, which landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Oshima Island. Oshima is located on the west coast of the northernmost main island of Hokkaido.
