The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected a missile launch at around 7:10 a.m. on October 31 from the Pyongyang area of North Korea.
The launch came just hours after South Korean and US defense ministers met at the Pentagon on October 30, condemning North Korea's military deployment to Russia.
According to Japan's Ministry of Defense, North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile launch on the morning of October 31 is believed to be the furthest ever by a North Korean missile.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said the missile flew for "about 1 hour and 26 minutes." "The flight time is the longest ever. It may be the newest missile ever," Nakatani said.
Public broadcaster NHK quoted a source from the Japanese Ministry of Defense as saying that the missile fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
The launch came just days before the US presidential election and after warnings from South Korea's intelligence agency that Pyongyang planned to launch an ICBM around the time of the election to test re-entry technology.
The US National Security Council has determined that North Korea's latest missile launch was an intercontinental ballistic missile, calling it a violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The last time North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles was on September 18. The last time Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile was on December 18, 2023.
