North Korea fired a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan, the South Korean government said Monday, just hours after another missile was launched in the same direction.
A Japanese government official said the missile seems to have fallen into the sea outside the country's exclusive economic zone off the northern island of Hokkaido after flying for 73 minutes, saying no damage has been reported.
The latest missile was fired at a lofted angle and flew 1,000 kilometers, South Korea said. Japan said the missile has the potential to fly around 15,000 km at a maximum altitude of 6,000 km, possibly allowing a strike anywhere in the continental United States.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was fired from the Pyongyang area at 8:24 a.m., adding the North used solid fuel.
A solid-fuel missile does not require fueling before firing like a liquid-fuel missile, making it harder for surveilling countries to detect launch preparations and giving a better pre-emptive strike and retaliatory capability, military experts said.
Japan said it has lodged a stern protest against North Korea over the ICBM launch, while holding a meeting of the National Security Council at the prime minister's office to analyze the situation.
Senior U.S., Japanese and South Korean officials in charge of North Korean issues condemned Pyongyang's actions during phone talks held twice following the launches, with the White House labeling Monday's launch an ICBM test.
The three officials reaffirmed that their nations will continue to work closely to respond to North Korea's provocations, the Japanese government said. The last time North Korea fired an ICBM was on July 12.
The ballistic missile launched by North Korea late Sunday also appears to have fallen into waters outside Japan's EEZ without causing damage to aircraft or vessels, according to the government.
Sunday's missile was fired from North Korea's west coast at around 10:37 p.m. and flew about 400 km at a maximum altitude of 50 km before falling near the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, the government said. South Korea identified it as a short-range projectile that flew about 570 km.
The moves came after a senior South Korean government official reportedly said there is a possibility of North Korea launching an ICBM this month.
Japan strongly condemned both ballistic missile launches, labeling them as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said North Korea's missile activities have threatened "peace and stability in the region."
North Korea warned of further retaliation in the wake of Sunday's launch, criticizing the second meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group recently held between the United States and South Korea that discussed nuclear and strategic weapons operation plans.
"Hostile forces'...attempt to use armed forces against the DPRK will face a preemptive and deadly counteraction," the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday, citing a statement from the country's defense ministry spokesman.
DPRK is the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's formal name.
In November, Pyongyang launched a military spy satellite using ballistic missile technology.
Japan, the United States and South Korea are working on creating a system to share real-time information on North Korean ballistic missiles, with Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara saying in November it is "in the final stage" toward launch by year-end.
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