President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol gets in a vehicle as he leaves his office in Tongui-dong, Jongno District, Friday. Joint Press Corps

Further provocations expected ahead of April's joint military exercise between Seoul, Washington

By Nam Hyun-woo

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's leadership of being put to the test after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gave his military the greenlight to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday, marking a return to nuclear brinkmanship.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the North fired the missile from a location near Sunan airport in Pyongyang. The missile traveled 1,080 kilometers before reaching a maximum altitude of over 6,200 kilometers, attributes which place the projectile in the category of ICBMs.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency also confirmed on Friday that the missile was the Hwasong-17 ICBM and that its leader said Pyongyang should prepare for "a long-standing confrontation" with the U.S.

It was seen as Pyongyang's most powerful ICBM to date and marked an end to the Kim regime's self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and ICBM tests, meaning inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea relations have now rolled back to the status before Kim, President Moon Jae-in, and U.S. President Donald Trump engaged in peace talks in 2018.

The launch was also a sign that the Moon administration's peace efforts during the past five years were in vain. The latest provocation also tests the diplomatic skills of President-elect Yoon, who has been emphasizing South Korea's enhanced defense capability and stronger Seoul-Washington alliance as a deterrent to North Korea's threats.

In this photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Friday, a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile is displayed before a test launch on Thursday. Yonhap

"It was the 12th North Korean provocation and I warn North Korea that it will gain nothing from provocations," Yoon wrote on Facebook, Friday. "South Korea will strengthen its security preparedness to protect peace and freedom."

Yoon's spokesperson, Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), told reporters Friday that the launch contains "two messages for the U.S. and South Korea."