North Korea confirmed to have launched an intercontinental ballistic missile

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday to the sea between the peninsula korean and japana few hours before the South Korean president is due to travel to Tokyo for a summit supposed to discuss ways to counter the North’s nuclear weapon.

North Korea conducted several missile launches this weekcoinciding with joint military exercises in South Korea and the United States which Pyongyang condemns as hostile actions.

The missile, fired at 2210 GMT from Pyongyang on Wednesday, traveled about 1,000 kilometers on a high trajectory, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

He Ministry of Defense of Japan said the ICBM-like projectile appeared to have flown over 6,000 kilometers in altitude for about 70 minutes.

It most likely fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zones, 200 kilometers west of Oshima-Oshima Island in Hokkaido, northern Japan, according to the ministry.

“The launch of the missile by North Korea is a barbaric act that increases its provocation to the whole of international society,” he said. Hirokazu Matsuno, Japanese Chief of Staff. “We will confirm close cooperation with South Korea and the United States toward the complete denuclearization of North Korea at today’s Japan-South Korea summit.”

Seoul called a meeting of the National Security Council and “strongly condemned” the missile launch as a serious provocative act threatening international peace.

With information from Reuters