N Korea tests largest ICBM

North Korea conducted what is thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test ever yesterday, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, marking a dramatic end to a self-imposed moratorium on long-range testing.

It would be the first full-capability launch of the nuclear-armed state's largest missiles since 2017, and represents a major step in the North's development of weapons that might be able to deliver nuclear warheads anywhere in the United States.

The North's return to major weapons tests also poses a new national security headache for US President Joe Biden as he responds to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and presents a challenge to South Korea's incoming conservative administration.

"This launch is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilising the security situation in the region," White House said in a statement.

North Korea had put its ICBM and nuclear tests on hold since 2017, but has defended the weapons as necessary for self-defence.

Japanese authorities said the launch appeared to be a "new type" of ICBM that flew for about 71 minutes to an altitude of about 6,000km.  It landed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone, 170 km west of the northern prefecture of Aomori, at 3:44 p.m. (0644 GMT), the coast guard said. That is further and longer than North Korea's last ICBM test in 2017, when it launched a Hwasong-15 missile that flew for 53 minutes to an altitude of about 4,475 km and range of 950 km.