The trajectory was higher and further than North Korea’s last ICBM test, the Hwasong-15, which flew for 53 minutes.

The Pentagon and South Korean military have warned for weeks that Pyongyang could be preparing to launch an intercontinental-range missile capable of carrying warheads to anywhere in the United States, in what would be a major escalation of Kim Jong-un’s nuclear weapons programme. 

Thursday’s launch would be at least the 13th ballistic missile test fired by North Korea this year, an unprecedented number that has raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula and across the Indo-Pacific region. 

In January, Pyongyang warned that it could lift its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and ICBM tests amid its ongoing frustration with punishing international sanctions that have remained since the collapse in 2019 of nuclear disarmament talks with the US and South Korea. 

The Pentagon cautioned in early March that an ICBM, possibly the giant Hwasong-17, was likely to be tested imminently after revealing that two recent missile launches on February 27 and March 5 involved trialing parts of its weapons system.  

“The purpose of these tests, which did not demonstrate [intercontinental ballistic missile] range, was likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch,” said the Department of Defence in a March 10 statement.

On March 16, North Korea launched a suspected missile that appeared to explode shortly after liftoff over Pyongyang, South Korea’s military said.

Dr Edward Howell, a North Korea expert at the University of Oxford, said the timing of the launch was significant following the recent election victory of conservative President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has pledged a stronger alliance with the United States and a hardline stance towards Pyongyang.