The flight details suggest the North tested its longest-range ballistic missile since 2017, when it flight-tested three intercontinental range ballistic missiles.
North Korea on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, as it revives its old playbook in brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and neighbors amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy.
The launch came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chaired a ruling party meeting on January 20 where senior party members made ato resume testing of nuclear explosives and ICBMs, which Kim suspended in 2018 while initiating diplomacy with the United States. The Japanese assessments suggest that the North tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile or possibly even a weapon approaching ICBM capacities, said Lee Choon Geun, a missile expert and honorary research fellow at South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute.
Experts say the North could halt its testing spree after the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics next week out of respect for China, its major ally and economic lifeline. But there's also expectation that the North could significantly up the ante in weapons demonstrations once the Olympics end in February to grab the attention of the Biden administration, which has been focusing more on confronting China and Russia over its conflict with Ukraine.
North Korea has justified its testing activity as an exercise of its rights to self-defense and threatened stronger action after the Biden administration imposed fresh sanctions following two tests of a purported hypersonic missile earlier this month.
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