SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military intelligence agency told lawmakers Wednesday that North Korea has likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test and is close to test-firing a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States.
In a closed-door hearing, the agency also said some advance units of North Korean troops sent to Russia may have arrived at battlefronts as the forces prepare to move to the Kursk region, where Russia has struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion, according to two lawmakers who attended the meeting.
Earlier this month, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told The Associated Press that he expected North Korea to stage major provocations like nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests around the U.S. election to dial up pressure on Washington and its allies.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has also flaunted his military nuclear program in recent months, testing various missile systems and disclosing a secretive facility for producing weapons-grade uranium in September.
The agency believes that North Korea has finished preparations to conduct a nuclear test at its testing ground in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri, with the detonation likely to be carried out at tunnel No. 3, said Lee Seong Kweun, one of the lawmakers who attended the hearing. North Korea conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in 2017.
The agency also said it’s detecting signs that the North will soon be ready to test launch an ICBM designed to reach the U.S. mainland, including the placement of a launch vehicle and a missile, said Lee and fellow lawmaker Park Sunwon. The agency believes the ICBM test could take place some time in November.
“We cannot specify the exact location but the transporter-erector launcher has been deployed at a certain area where it could be anticipated that an ICBM test aimed at verifying atmospheric re-entry technology could be conducted,” Lee added.
All of North Korea’s ICBM tests since 2017 have been conducted at a high angle to avoid the territory of neighbors. Experts have said the North may eventually seek to flight test its weapons at an angle closer to a normal ballistic trajectory to verify whether the warhead would survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.
The re-entry vehicle technology is considered one of the few remaining technological obstacles North Korea needs to overcome to obtain functioning long-range missiles.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened since 2022 after Kim used Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a distraction to accelerate the growth of his nuclear weapons and missile program.
FILE - This undated photo provided Dec. 19, 2023, by the North Korean government shows what it says is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) being prepared to launch from an undisclosed location in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
FILE - This photo distributed by the North Korean government shows what it says is a test-fire of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), at an undisclosed location in North Korea on March 24, 2022. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo distributed by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, walks near what it says is a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the launcher at an undisclosed location in North Korea on March 24, 2022. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
Jamahl Mosley was fired as coach of the Orlando Magic on Monday, paying the widely expected price after the team blew a 3-1 series lead and got eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in Round 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity pending the team announcement.
It was Orlando’s third consecutive first-round playoff exit, and easily the most disappointing. Not only did the eighth-seeded Magic lose all three chances to upset the top-seeded Pistons, but one of those games saw Orlando have a 24-point second-half lead at home and still lose. Orlando missed 23 consecutive shots in that Game 6 loss on Friday, getting booed by fans when it was over.
That loss probably was the one that sealed Mosley’s fate, even though the loss in Game 7 at Detroit on Sunday was the one that ended the season.
Mosley is the third-winningest coach in Magic history, his 189 wins behind only Brian Hill (267) and Stan Van Gundy (259). He inherited a team that was in the early stages of a rebuild, with Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs entering the league as rookies in his first season and then the Magic winning the lottery to draft Paolo Banchero No. 1 overall before Mosley’s second season.
Orlando won 22 games in Mosley’s first season, improved to 34-48 in Year 2 and has been .500 or better in all three seasons since — 47-35 in 2023-24, 41-41 last season and 45-37 this season.
That makes the Magic one of 10 teams — Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma City are the others — to have not finished below .500 in any of the last three seasons.
It wasn’t enough. And with much of the team’s core — Banchero, Wagner, Suggs, Desmond Bane and more — under contract for the foreseeable future, the Magic clearly felt the best way to shake things up was to bring in a new coach.
“It’s been absolutely amazing journey with these guys,” Mosley said. “Their ability to grow, communicate ... we’re going to fight until the final horn goes off. And that’s what you’ve seen for a majority of the five years.”
It is a roster in need of upgrading in some ways, shooting perhaps foremost among them after Orlando was only 27th in the 30-team league in 3-point percentage this season. Injuries have also been a major issue for the Magic, including in the playoffs — with Wagner unable to play in the final three games, all losses, against Detroit.
Mosley’s job security was a talking point for much of the season, especially amid reports that he and Banchero were not on the same page. In March, Banchero acknowledged that were some moments of conflict — but thought Orlando was better for going through that.
“We’re both competitors,” Banchero said when asked then about his relationship with Mosley. “There were times where I was frustrated and I wasn’t playing as well as I think I should be. But it never became me pointing the finger at him or being disrespectful. It was all constructive; he’s talking to me, I’m talking to him. And winning, it cures everything.”
Evidently, there wasn’t enough winning.
Mosley had two seasons left on an extension that he and the Magic agreed on in March 2024. The team lauded his “preparation, work ethic, ability to connect with the players and passion he brings to the job every day brings positive results, both on the court and off” when announcing that deal.
Barely two years later, he and the Magic were parting ways.
Only seven coaches have been in their current jobs longer than Mosley was with Orlando — Miami’s Erik Spoelstra (hired in 2008), Golden State’s Steve Kerr (2014), the Clippers’ Tyronn Lue (2020), Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault (2020), Minnesota’s Chris Finch (2021), Indiana’s Rick Carlisle (2021) and Dallas’ Jason Kidd (2021).
Mosley spent 15 years as an assistant in Denver, Cleveland and Dallas — and was often mentioned as a candidate for head-coaching jobs around the league over that span — before Orlando hired him. He had a long relationship with Magic basketball operations president Jeff Weltman, who first took note of Mosley when they worked together with the Nuggets.
Mosley was the 14th coach in Magic history, the 15th if counting Billy Donovan — who accepted the job in 2007, then had second thoughts and returned to the University of Florida. Donovan just left the Chicago Bulls after six seasons as their coach, which sparked speculation that he could be the frontrunner in Orlando if the Magic indeed would be moving on from Mosley.
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Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley shouts to his team during the first half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Detroit Pistons Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley directs his team against the Detroit Pistons during the first half in Game 6 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley shouts at referee Curtis Blair (74) during the second half in Game 5 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Detroit Pistons Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
