What we know about North Korea’s ICBM programme

On Thursday morning, North Korea launched an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) towards the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, in what analysts say was the longest flight time yet for any North Korean missile.

The missile flew for 86 minutes and approximately 1,000km (621 miles) at a maximum altitude of 7,000km (4,350 miles) before it splashed down off the coast of Hokkaido, outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, according to Japan’s Defense Agency.

North Korean state media confirmed that an ICBM was launched to inform “rivals” of the country’s powerful capabilities, while Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said the test could possibly mark a “new” kind of ICBM missile.

Here’s what we know about North Korea’s ICBM programme:

Why did North Korea test-fire an ICBM?

Test launching long-range missiles is an important part of North Korea’s military development process as leader Kim Jong Un acquires a vast arsenal of missiles and nuclear weapons that analysts say are capable of one day reaching targets as far as Japan and the US.

Test-firing ICBMs helps the North refine its weapons systems. It is also one way North Korea grabs the world’s attention during key events, Shin Seung-ki, head of research on North Korea’s military at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul, told the Reuters news agency.

Shin said the ICBM test launch may have been intended to show that North Korea “will not bow to pressure” as Pyongyang has recently come under pressure over the reported deployment of an estimated 10,000 North Korean soldiers to assist Russia in Ukraine.

The test sends a message that North Korea will “respond to strength with strength”, Shin said, and may also “seek some influence on the US presidential election”.Ankit Panda, a North Korea expert and senior analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un may have several reasons to test-launch an ICBM at this time.