North Korea tests ICBM, readies troops in Ukraine

North Korean ICBM launch as viewed on South Korean TV — Analysts said the missile test was 'largely meant to grab American attention days before the US presidential election'

(Image credit: Jung Yeon-Je / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

North Korea launched a new, more advanced intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday, with Kim Jong Un calling the missile test an "appropriate military action" against Pyongyang's "rivals." The test flight reached an altitude of more than 4,300 miles, according to Japan's defense ministry.

Who said what

North Korea's first ICBM launch in nearly a year "flew higher and stayed in the air for a longer duration" than any previous weapon, showing the country's "progress in acquiring a nuclear-armed ICBM that can hit the U.S. mainland," The Associated Press said. Analysts said the missile test was "largely meant to grab American attention days before the U.S. presidential election" and also "respond to international condemnation" over North Korea sending troops to fight Russia's war against Ukraine.

Some 8,000 of North Korea's more than 10,000 troops in Russia are likely to join combat operations against Ukrainian forces in the "coming days," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday. He condemned the ICBM launch "in the strongest terms" and said "all countries should be demanding" North Korea "cease these destabilizing actions." China in particular "should be asking Russia some hard questions at this point about whether it intends to broaden this conflict," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin added.

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What next?

The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet early next week to discuss North Korea's test launch. The U.S., one of the countries calling for the meeting, said the launch was a "flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions."

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.