February 21, 2023: On Saturday, North Korea launched a bigger-range ballistic missile regarding the sea off Japan’s west coast after that a warning of a solid response to future military drills by South Korea and the United States.

Japanese authorities said the missile shook into waters inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone over an hour after it was launched, offering the weapon was one of Pyongyang’s most giant missiles.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kisihda stated that the missile appeared to have been ICBM-class, which refers to an intercontinental ballistic missile. He noted that a briefing in Japan strongly condemned the launch and called it a threat to the international community.

Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada stated that the missile appeared to have a range of over 14,000 km (8,700 miles) sufficient to reach the U.S. mainland.

In South Korea, denouncing the launch as a “clear breach of U.N. Security Council plans”, the joint chiefs of staff stated that the missile had flown regarding 900 km (560 miles) before trickling into the sea.

North Korea’s first missile firing from January 1 came after Pyongyang threatened an “unprecedentedly persistent, strong” response on Friday as South Korea and the U.S. gear up for annual military exercises to fend off the North’s developing nuclear and missile threats.

After Saturday’s launch, South Korea’s National Security Council convened a meeting and agreed to surge cooperation on security with Washington and Japan.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command stated in a statement that U.S. commitments to the part of Japan and South Korea “remain ironclad”.

“While assessing that this event accomplishes not pose an immediate effort to U.S. personnel, territory, or our allies, we will continue to monitor the situation,” the statement further.