North Korea’s latest missile launches an ominous development or routine testing?

SEOUL – North Korea

fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the early hours of Dec 18

that flew about 1,000km before falling into the sea west of Japan’s Hokkaido, according to the South Korean and Japanese authorities.

It was North Korea’s fifth ICBM launch in 2023 – the highest number in a single year. It came just hours after the North

launched a short-range ballistic missile on Dec 17,

a move that coincided with the arrival of the US nuclear-powered submarine Missouri in the South Korean port city of Busan.