The South Korean military announced that North Korea had fired three ballistic missiles towards the East Sea, one of which was an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a series of tests Wednesday morning, the day after US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region.

“The first ballistic missile (proposed ICBM) had a range of about 360 km and reached an altitude of about 540 km,” the chief of staff of the South Korean military said in a statement.

She added that the second ballistic missile “reached an altitude of 20 km and its trail disappeared”, while the third short-range ballistic missile traveled about 760 km at an altitude of about 60 km.

In Tokyo, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said that one of these ballistic missiles went down an “unusual path”?

Pyongyang is developing technologies that allow missiles to maneuver and change trajectory after launch, including “hypersonic gliding technology,” which makes it harder for air defense systems to intercept these missiles.

Following these three missile tests, the South Korean National Security Council held a meeting after which it stated that “Today’s successive launch by North Korea of ​​a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile and two short-range ballistic missiles is an illegal act that is in direct violation of the UN Security Council Resolution.”

According to the South Korean military, South Korea and the United States conducted “surface-to-surface missile exercises” and put combat aircraft on alert in response to “alleged provocations by North Korea involving intercontinental ballistic missiles and missiles.”

This triple missile test came as US President Joe Biden completed a trip to a region that included South Korea and Japan.

Since the beginning of the year, Pyongyang has stepped up its missile tests, despite the international sanctions imposed on it.

During his visit to South Korea, Biden held talks with his new colleague Yoon Seok-yeol, during which both stressed the need to intensify military exercises to counter threats from the North.

On the last day of his visit to North Korea, Biden told reporters that he only had one message for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un: “Hello. Dot on the line.

But the US president stressed that his country is “ready to resist everything that North Korea does.”

The North Korean threat overshadowed Biden’s first trip to Asia since taking power in early 2021, especially as a senior US official warned that Pyongyang could use the visit to test a missile or even an atomic bomb.

The US warning came after South Korean intelligence announced that North Korea had completed preparations for a new nuclear test.