North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday, Seoul has announced, marking the DPRK’s first long-range missile test in five years and risking a significant escalation in tensions amid the ongoing presidential transition in South Korea.

The announcement from the country’s National Security Council (NSC) comes after authorities in Seoul and Tokyo reported earlier in the afternoon that North Korea had launched a projectile toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan).

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has assessed that the DPRK launched the ICBM at 2:34 p.m. KST from near the Sunan area. The missile flew