North Korea fires ballistic missile after making threat over US ‘spy flights’

North Korea has fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile in three months, two days after threatening ‘shocking’ consequences to protest over what it called provocative US reconnaissance activity (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

North Korea fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile in three months on Wednesday, two days after it threatened “shocking” consequences to protest over what it called provocative US reconnaissance activity near its territory.

Some experts say North Korea is likely to have launched its developmental, road-mobile Hwasong-18 ICBM, a type of solid-fuel weapon that is harder to detect and intercept than its liquid-fuel ICBMs.