(AP) – Alarms blared from cellphones, radios and public speakers and fishermen hurried back to shore in northern Japan on Thursday after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile above its eastern waters, adding to a recent barrage of provocative weapons demonstrations that officials say may culminate with a nuclear test in coming weeks.
The ICBM test, which was followed by two short-range ballistic launches into the sea, was swiftly condemned by neighbors and the United States, which said it’s willing to take “all necessary measures” to ensure the safety of the American homeland and allies South Korea and Japan.
The Biden administration also warned of unspecified “additional costs and consequences” if the North goes on to detonate a nuclear test device for the first time since September 2017.
The launches are the latest in a series of North Korean weapons tests in recent months that have raised tensions in the region. They came a day after Pyongyang fired more than 20 missiles, the most it has fired in a single day ever.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the North firing an ICBM from an area near its capital Pyongyang around 7:40 a.m. and then firing two short-range missiles an hour later from the nearby city of Kacheon that flew toward its eastern waters.
The longer-range missile appeared to be fired on a high angle, possibly to avoid entering the territory of neighbors, reaching a maximum altitude of 1,920 kilometers (1,193 miles) and traveling around 760 kilometers (472 miles), according to South Korea’s military.
