Mediamajalengka

North Korea’s suspected launch of its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) failed on Thursday, according to a South Korean government source, as Pyongyang intensified its battery of missile tests against a backdrop of US and South Korean military drills that had been scheduled to end on Friday.

However, within hours of the presumed failed test, Washington and Seoul agreed to extend those large-scale exercises to an unknown date, according to a statement from the South Korean Air Force, which said “it was necessary to demonstrate a solid combined defense posture of the bilateral alliance under the current security crisis, heightened by North Korea’s provocations.”

The joint exercises, named “Vigilant Storm,” began on Monday and involve 240 aircraft and “thousands of service members” from both countries, according to the US Defense Department.

North Korea had objected to those drills in statements issued this week, before it ramped up tensions on the peninsula with a barrage of weapons tests on Wednesday and Thursday.

Presumed ICBM test

The suspected ICBM was launched from the west coast of North Korea at around 7:39 a.m. local time, and flew about 750 kilometers (466 miles) before falling into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, east of the Korean Peninsula, Japan’s Defense Ministry said.

The South Korean government source said officials suspect it was a Hwasong-17, North Korea’s most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that was first successfully tested on March 24.

That launch set a new standard for Pyongyang, recording the highest altitude and longest duration of any North Korean missile ever tested. The missile hit a maximum altitude of 6,248.5 kilometers (3,905 miles) and flew a distance of 1,090 kilometers (681 miles), according to a report from the Korean Central News Agency at the time. The flight time was 68 minutes, the report added.

However, a South Korean government source told CNN that officials believe the missile fired Thursday only succeeded in separating at the second stage, and seems to have failed after that, falling into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Thursday’s launch reached a maximum altitude of about 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles), according to Japan’s Defense Ministry – less than a third of the record height set in March.

In Japan, the presumed ICMB launch triggered warnings to take shelter in the northern Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures, where the Japanese Prime Minister’s office initially said it was expected to fly over. Japan’s Defense Ministry later evaluated that the missile did not cross over Japan.

North Korea followed the presumed ICBM test Thursday with two short-range ballistic missile launches, according to South Korea and Japan.

In a statement Thursday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Pyongyang’s repeated launches “of ballistic missiles are a serious provocation that harms the peace and stability of not only the Korean Peninsula but also the international community.”

Thursday’s tests come just hours before US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is due to meet his South Korean counterpart Lee Jong-sup at the Pentagon.