Defense minister nominee Lee Jong-sup said North Korea's ballistic missile launch carried out on Wednesday is a clear breach of UN Security Council resolutions.

When asked about the type of missile during his parliamentary confirmation hearing, Lee said it could be an intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) or a missile with a slightly shorter range. He promised to update the information once an accurate analysis is conducted.

Regarding moves at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, the nominee said preparations for a nuclear test are believed to be underway. He said the current consensus is that a small tactical nuclear weapon could be tested this time, which would be smaller in scale than the sixth test carried out in 2017.

As for response measures, Lee said a strategic response proportional to the level of provocation is necessary.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the North fired one ballistic missile toward the East Sea around noon on Wednesday from near the Sunan airfield in Pyongyang.