On Wednesday morning (around 4 am in Italy) North Korea launched a long-range missile into the Sea of Japan: the missile flew for 74 minutes at an altitude of 6,000 km before falling 550 km east of the North Korean coast, causing no damage. It is the missile test with the longest flight time ever by North Korea off its coast.
The launch came as the leaders of South Korea and Japan were about to meet on the sidelines of the NATO summit taking place in Lithuania to talk about common threats, including North Korea. In recent days, North Korea also said that US spy planes had violated its airspace, allegations that the United States has denied, saying its planes remain in the international area.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the one launched by North Korea is an ICBM. The first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched by North Korea in April, in one of twelve missile tests already carried out this year. This type of missile worries more than the others because it is believed that it can fly far enough to reach the United States. Furthermore, North Korea continues to say that it has built nuclear warheads that can be mounted on this type of missile, but there is no confirmation on the veracity of these claims.