The Hwasong-17 is the most important road-mobile, liquid-fuelled ICBM on the planet.

North Korea has confirmed it fired an intercontinental ballistic missile and that it was the Hwasong-17, referred to as the nation’s “monster missile”.

The launch of the banned missile was detected by neighbours South Korea and Japan on Thursday, hours earlier than South Korean President Yook Suk-yeol was as a consequence of fly to Tokyo for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

It was the newest in a sequence of weapons checks which have coincided with Freedom Protect – the large-scale joint army workouts between the USA and South Korea that started on Monday and that Pyongyang regards as a rehearsal for invasion.

Confirming the ICBM check on Friday, North Korea’s state media stated it was supposed to display a “robust response posture” and was a response to the “provocative and aggressive” army drills.

Pyongyang stated the missile travelled at a most altitude of some 6,000 km (3,700 miles) and flew some 1,000 km (620 miles) “earlier than precisely touchdown on the preset space within the open waters off the East Sea of Korea,” also called the Sea of Japan.

Pictures accompanying the reviews in state media confirmed North Korean chief Kim Jong Un watching the launch along with his daughter and included footage from house apparently shot by a digicam mounted on the missile.

“The launching drill of the strategic weapon serves as an event to provide a stronger warning to the enemies deliberately escalating the stress within the Korean peninsula whereas persistently resorting to irresponsible and reckless army threats,” state information company KCNA stated.

Seoul and Washington have ramped up defence cooperation within the face of rising army and nuclear threats from North Korea, which performed a document variety of weapons checks in 2022 because it steps up its army modernisation marketing campaign.

This week it has examined short-range ballistic missiles and strategic cruise missiles from a submarine.

Ballistic missile checks are banned below United Nations Safety Council resolutions over North Korea’s nuclear programme.

The Hwasong-17 is North Korea’s largest missile and is the most important road-mobile, liquid-fuelled ICBM on the planet.

It’s believed to have the vary to ship a nuclear warhead to targets anyplace within the US.

It was first examined in March final 12 months, marking North Korea’s first ICBM launch since 2017.