North Korea has tested a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It is believed to be the longest flying missile ever tested by the country.

The country fired the long-range missile into the sea off its east coast on Thursday (October 31). Aljazeera news.

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea off its east coast, South Korea's military said.

South Korea's military's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement that the launch of the missile towards the East Sea - also known as the Sea of ​​Japan - was detected at 7:10 a.m. local time on Thursday.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the North Korean ballistic missile appeared to be a high-speed ICBM, the JCS said in a statement.

Reuters says North Korea's launch of a long-range missile on a lofted trajectory means launching the missile almost vertically. This allows the missile to travel to a very high altitude but then land at a short horizontal distance from the launch site.

Through such launches, Pyongyang can collect data from missile tests that are useful for better understanding the challenges it faces when re-entering the Earth's atmosphere with long-range warheads.

The North Korean missile was expected to land in the country's northern Hokkaido region, about 300 kilometers (190 miles) west of Japan's Okushiri island.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen. Nakatani said the missile flew the longest of any of Pyongyang's past missiles.

Nakatani told reporters it was the longest flight of any missile to date. I think it may be different from conventional missiles.

North Korea has not tested a ballistic missile since September this year and last launched an ICBM in December 2023, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.