North Korea confirms launch of longest-range missile since 2017 | NK News
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September 19, 2026Sep 19, 2026

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North Korea confirms launch of longest-range missile since 2017

DPRK completed successful test to ‘verify’ accuracy of Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, state media says

North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Sunday to “verify its accuracy,” state media reported on Monday, without mentioning the presence of leader Kim Jong Un.

The test — the longest-range weapon that the DPRK has tested since Nov. 2017 and the first of the Hwasong-12 since Sept. 2017 — was carried out by the Academy of Defense Science and the Second Economic Commission, according to the state-run Voice of Korea (VOK).

It “was aimed at selectively checking the ground-to-ground mid- and long-distance ballistic missile ‘Hwasong-12’ under production for equipment and verifying the accuracy of the overall