North Korea tests long-range missile which ‘can reach anywhere in the US’
North Korea has tested a long-range missile which is believed to have the potential to reach anywhere in the US.
South Korea, Japan and the US condemned the testing of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which is the fifth one to be successfully launched by North Korea this year.
It comes after a meeting on Friday by US and South Korean defence officials over the use of American strategic weapons to deter North Korea’s military threat.
Washington also warned any nuclear attack by North Korea would lead to the end of the regime.
Japanese officials said the missile landed in the sea, west of its second-largest island Hokkaido.
Japan added the missile’s flight lasted 73 minutes, but has the potential to travel more than 15,000km (9,300 miles) – meaning it can reach anywhere in Japan and the US mainland.
The launch was made from an area near the North Korean capital Pyongyang towards the sea off the country’s east coast and flew about 1,000km (621 miles), South Korean military officials said.
South Korea’s National Security Council said it was a solid-fuel ICBM, which can be easier and safer to operate and more difficult to detect.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Korea: Could there be another war between North and South?
It called the launch a destabilising act which ignored international warnings and multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered the upgrading of the effective operation of “nuclear deterrence” by South Korea and the US, it added.
People at the railway station in Seoul watch news reports of the launch. Pic: AP
Read more from Sky News:
Miss France winner with short hair defended
BP pauses all shipments through Red Sea
Pakistan uses artificial rain to battle smog for first time
Monday’s launch came after North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday night, flying about 570km (354 miles) before falling into the ocean.
North Korea followed up that launch with a statement condemning the US for orchestrating what it called a “preview of a nuclear war,” including the arrival of a nuclear-powered submarine in South Korea on Sunday.
It added it has a sovereign right to operate a ballistic missile programme for its own self-defence and rejects the UN Security Council ban, which it says is a product of hostile US policy.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
Read more:
Israeli pilots’ letter reveals deepening rift
Seriously ill children from Gaza allowed into UK
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway