Kishida Confirms One Of North Korean Projectiles May Have Been ICBM

Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that one of the projectiles fired by North Korea this morning was a suspected Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), echoing earlier comments from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

• If confirmed, the launch of an ICBM would represent an escalation in North Korean sabre-rattling, the next natural step being a nuclear test. The nation first tested a domestically produced ICBM in 2017, when inter-Korean tensions reached a new peak. The subsequent diplomatic thaw brought a pause in ICBM testing, before its resumption earlier this year.
• The past year saw North Korea ditch its self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons, while implementing offensive tweaks to its military doctrine, effectively taking a more assertive stance towards the U.S. and its allies in the region in contrast to prior attempts at rapprochement.
• An analyst from 38 North points to North Korea's rapid alignment with China and Russia over the recent months. It has been one of the few countries to recognise Russia's annexation of breakaway Ukrainian regions and has been accused of supporting Moscow's war effort through the supply of artillery shells.