North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in a display of military might Thursday just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet at a Tokyo summit expected to be overshadowed by North Korean nuclear threats.
The launch, the North's first ICBM test in a month and third weapons testing this week, also comes as South Korean and U.S. troops continue joint military exercises that Pyongyang considers a rehearsal to invade.
Before heading Tokyo for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said, "North Korea's reckless provocations will pay the clear price." In Tokyo, Kishida said: "We must further strengthen cooperation among the allies and like-minded countries." He declined to comment on North Korea's possible intentions of the launch.
North Korea has long argued that U.S.-South Korean military drills are proof of their hostile policies against North Korea, though Washington and Seoul say they have no intentions of invading the North. Many experts say North Korea use its rivals' drills as a pretext to boost its nuclear capability to pressure the United States to make concessions like the relaxing of international sanctions.
South Korea's military said the missile was launched from Pyongyang's Sunan neighbourhood, home to its international airport. It is a major testing site where the North has launched most of its ICBMs in recent years, all flown on a high angle to avoid the territory of neighbours. The South Korean-Japan summit was arranged after Yoon's government last week took a major step toward repairing bilateral ties strained by Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
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