North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile but likely failed World news

North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile among the three it tested on Thursday, but the launch failed following its second stage separation, Yonhap news agency reported citing the South Korean military.

The launches are the latest in a series of North Korean weapons tests in recent months that have raised tensions in the region. They came a day after Pyongyang fired more than 20 missiles, the most it has ever fired in a single day.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it saw the North firing a missile it thought was an ICBM from an area close to the capital Pyongyang at around 7:40 a.m. and then fired two short-range missiles an hour later. later from the nearby city of Kacheon he flew. to the sea on the east side of it.

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Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said one of the North Korean missiles reached an altitude of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) and traveled 750 kilometers (460 miles) before his military lost the missile’s effectiveness.

The Japanese government initially feared that a suspected ICBM would fly over its northern territory, but later revised its assessment, saying there were no flies. Hamada said the missile “disappeared” from Japanese radars in the skies above the waters between Korea and Japan.

Choi Yong Soo, a South Korean navy chief who handles public affairs for Seoul’s Ministry of Defense, did not give a specific answer when asked if the military believed the launch could have failed with a misfired missile. exploded in mid-air, saying the test was still on. analysis.