MARCH 16: Both Japanese and South Korean officials confirmed the launch of the long-range missile Thursday morning.
It flew about 1,000 km (620 miles) and landed in waters west of Japan.
It is the fourth missile launch from Pyongyang in the past week, though the other rounds have been short-range.
The activity comes amid ongoing US-South Korean naval exercises around the Korean Peninsula, the allies’ largest in five years. North Korea has repeatedly said that it sees such exercises as a provocation.
The missile was fired at 07:10 (2210 GMT) from Pyongyang on North Korea’s east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
Japan’s Defense Ministry confirmed it as an ICBM type and said it flew more than 6,000 km for about 70 minutes.
Following Thursday’s launch, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered his country’s military to continue joint US exercises as planned.
He added that Pyongyang would pay for its “reckless provocations.”
North Korea last fired an intercontinental ballistic missile less than a month ago, an action that prompted an emergency UN meeting and condemnation from the G7 countries.
ICBMs are of particular concern because of their long range, including the continental United States.
Intensifying North Korea’s missile activity will be high on the agenda when Yoon meets Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo later Thursday.
Many hope the meeting, which has been held as a “milestone” in the rapprochement of South Korea and Japan, will result in closer security ties and military cooperation between the two countries in the face of North Korean aggression.
Both countries said they would convene their national security councils after Thursday’s missile launch.
