World

North Korea conducts intermediate-range missile drill

By AAP Newswire

Oct 4, 2026

A TV screen in Seoul shows an mage of a North Korean missile launch — Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong ⁠said South Korea not been able to track the ‌weapon's flight. -AP

North Korea fired ‌an intermediate-range missile in a test overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, state media KCNA has reported.

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KCNA said ‌the missile was launched from eastern North Korea on Saturday and hit a target 1,000 km away in the sea off the country's east coast. It said the drill was intended to train troops operating a hypersonic strategic weapon system and to assess the reliability, efficiency and mobility of the country's war ‌deterrent.

The launch was ‌the latest in ⁠a series of North Korean weapons tests this year and came as tensions on the Korean peninsula escalated over a landmine blast in the Demilitarised Zone last month that wounded South Korean soldiers.

Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong ⁠said South Korea and Japan had failed to track the ‌weapon's flight, saying a special "wave-like trajectory mode" had exposed limitations in their tracking capabilities.

South Korea's military said on Saturday it ‌had detected a ballistic missile launch by North Korea and assessed the missile had flown more than 700 km toward the sea off its eastern coast.

The test came amid heightened tensions after Kim Yo Jong rejected Seoul's demand for an apology over the landmine blast.

South Korea has blamed North Korea for planting the mines and called for an apology. Kim Yo Jong called Seoul's accusation "groundless" and said North Korea had not deliberately laid mines targeting South Korean troops.