SEOUL, Feb  18, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - North Korea fired an intercontinental 
ballistic missile Saturday which landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, 
Seoul and Tokyo said, after Pyongyang warned of a strong response to upcoming 
US-South Korean military drills.

 The launch, Pyongyang's first in seven weeks, comes days before Seoul and 
Washington are due to start joint tabletop exercises aimed at improving their 
response in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.

 Japan said North Korea "fired one ICBM-class ballistic missile" which flew 
for some 66 minutes before landing in the country's exclusive economic zone, 
chief government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

 Tokyo's defence minister Yasukazu Hamada said the missile could have had 
the capacity to fly 14,000 km (8,700 miles) -- which would mean it was capable 
of hitting anywhere on the mainland United States.

 Seoul's military told AFP it had detected the launch of an ICBM, which was 

fired on a lofted trajectory -- up instead of out, typically done to avoid 
overflying neighbouring countries -- and flew some 900 kilometres (560 miles).

 "Detailed specifications are being closely analysed by South Korea-US 
intelligence authorities," it added in a statement.  

 The South's presidential office said it held a National Security Council 
meeting to discuss the launch, and that its participants decided to "take stern 
measures against any attempts to threaten our people".

  The estimated flight time of just over an hour is similar to that of the 
Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile Pyongyang tested last November, 
Seoul-based specialist site NK News reported.

 The United States said on Saturday that it "strongly condemns" the launch 
and it would "take all necessary measures" to protect itself and its allies 
South Korea and Japan.

 "This launch needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the 
security situation in the region," White House National Security Council 
spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

 The launch was "another step in the efforts of North Korea to perfect its 
long-range strike capabilities," Chun In-bum, a retired South Korean army 
general, told AFP.

 "The message of North Korea is clear: we are steadily progressing with the 
aim to perfect long-range nuclear weapons."
       
       - 'Tit-for-tat' -
       
 Military tensions have risen on the Korean peninsula after a year in which 
North Korea declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state and carried out 
sanctions-busting weapons tests nearly every month.

In response, Seoul has ramped up joint military drills and cooperation with 
key security ally Washington, in a bid to convince the increasingly nervous 
South Korean public of America's commitment to deter nuclear-armed Pyongyang.

 North Korea on Friday threatened an "unprecedentedly" strong response to 
upcoming US-South Korea drills -- which it described as preparations for war.

An Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for 
North Korea Studies, said the latest launch indicated North Korean leader Kim 
Jong Un "has finally pulled out his sword."

 "Kim Jong Un seems to want to confront the issue with a tit-for-tat 
approach," he said.

 The launch "can be read as a threat that Kim Jong Un is capable of 
attacking the US mainland with strategic nuclear weapons, not just tactical 
nuclear weapons."
       
       
       - Solid-fuel ICBM? -
       
 South Korea's hawkish President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May 2022, 
has vowed to get tough on North Korea.

 Earlier this week, South Korea called Pyongyang its "enemy" in a defence 
document -- the first time in six years it has used the term, signalling a 
further hardening of Seoul's position.

 North Korea has also ramped up its testing, including firing a ballistic 
missile last year that landed near South Korea's territorial waters for the 
first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

Pyongyang has repeatedly said it is not interested in further talks, and 
Kim recently called for an "exponential" increase in his country's nuclear 
arsenal.

 At a military parade in Pyongyang last week, North Korea showed off a 
record number of what it said were nuclear and intercontinental ballistic 
missiles, including what analysts said was possibly a new solid-fuelled ICBM.

Joseph Dempsey from the International Institute for Strategic Studies told 
AFP Saturday's test could have been a second successful test of a Hwasong-17 or 
even "the as yet unseen solid-fuel ICBM in development".

 North Korea has long sought to develop a solid-fuel ICBM because such 
missiles are easier to store and transport, as well as being more stable and 
quicker to prepare for launch -- and thus harder for the United States to 
detect and destroy preemptively.

 "North Korean missile firings are often tests of technologies under 
development, and it will be notable if Pyongyang claims progress with a 
long-range solid-fuel missile," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha 
University in Seoul.