North Korea fired suspected intercontinental ballistic missile, says Seoul

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile Friday Seouls military said the second launch in two days as Pyongyang continues a recordbreaking blitz that has sent fears of a nuclear test soaringA South Korean defence official told AFP that they estimated that North Korea had fired an ICBM without giving further detailsSeouls Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier said it had detected the launch of an unidentified ballistic missile in an eastward directionTokyo also confirmed the launch with Japans defence ministry saying Pyongyang had fired a suspected ballistic missile as the coastguard warned ships not to approach fallen debris in the waterThe launch comes a day after North Korea fired a shortrange ballistic missile as its minister of foreign affairs Choe Son Hui warned Pyongyang would take fiercer military action if the United States strengthened its extended deterrence commitment to regional alliesWashington has been seeking to boost regional security cooperation and ramp up joint military drills in response to increasing provocations from the nucleararmed North which views all such moves as evidence of US aggressionUS President Joe Biden discussed North Koreas recent missile tests with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping earlier this week and also spoke with leaders from Tokyo and Seoul as fears grow that the reclusive regime will soon carry out its seventh nuclear testNorth Korea was also top of the agenda when leaders of China and Japan held their first facetoface talks in three years Thursday on the sidelines of the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation APEC forum in BangkokAlso Read North Korea fired ballistic missile towards sea Seouls militaryExperts said the launch of one of North Koreas most powerful weapons was a clear sign leader Kim Jong Un was displeased by the recent talksNow its estimated to be an ICBM if thats the case it is a clear message to the US and Japan said Han Kwonhee manager of the Missile Strategy Forum Repeated launches Earlier this month North Korea conducted a flurry of launches including an intercontinental ballistic missile which Seoul said at the time appeared to have failedPyongyang also fired a shortrange ballistic missile that crossed the de facto maritime border between the two countries and landed near the Souths territorial waters for the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953President Yoon said at the time that it was effectively a territorial invasionBoth launches were part of a November 2 barrage in which Pyongyang fired 23 missiles more than it launched during the whole of 2017 the year of fire and fury when Kim traded barbs with then US president Donald Trump on Twitter and in state mediaExperts say North Korea is seizing the opportunity to conduct banned missile tests confident of escaping further UN sanctions due to Ukrainelinked gridlock at the United NationsChina Pyongyangs main diplomatic and economic ally joined Russia in May in vetoing a USled bid at the UN Security Council to tighten sanctions on North KoreaWashington has responded to North Koreas sanctionbusting missile tests by extending exercises with South Korea and deploying a strategic bomberPyongyang has also been under a selfimposed coronavirus blockage since early 2020 which experts say would limit the impact of any additional external sanctionsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever