North Korea has launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a record-breaking flight time of 86 minutes before it landed in waters off its eastern coast, according to South Korean and Japanese authorities.

The missile was launched at a steep angle, reaching an altitude of 7,000km (4,350 miles), indicating it could have traveled a much greater distance if launched on a flatter trajectory.

This latest launch, which breaches UN restrictions, occurs amid escalating tensions between the Koreas and increasingly hostile rhetoric from Pyongyang toward Seoul. On Wednesday, South Korea also warned that North Korea might be planning a missile launch close to the U.S. presidential election on November 5.

South Korea’s defense ministry announced that North Korea’s recent missile test aimed to develop weapons capable of “firing farther and higher.”

In an unusual same-day statement on state media, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared that the launch symbolized “our will to respond to our enemies,” describing it as “appropriate military action.” He reaffirmed North Korea’s commitment to expanding its nuclear arsenal, stating, “I affirm that [North Korea] will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces.”

The U.S. condemned the launch as a “flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.” Sean Savett, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, added that the launch “only demonstrates that [North Korea] continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people.”

In response, South Korea announced plans for new sanctions against the North.

The latest ICBM launch follows Pyongyang’s December 2023 missile test, which defied long-standing UN sanctions. That missile traveled approximately 1,000 kilometers over 73 minutes.