North Korea fired a new model of long-range ballistic missile on Thursday, South Korea said, triggering a scare in northern Japan where residents were told to take cover, though there turned out to be no danger.
A South Korean military official said the missile appeared to have been a new weapon displayed at recent North Korean military parades, and possibly used solid fuel.
North Korea has criticized recent U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises as escalating tensions and has stepped weapons tests in recent months. It has been working to build more solid-fuel missiles which can be launched with almost no warning or preparation time.
The missile flew about 1,000 km (620 miles), South Korea's military said, calling it a "grave provocation". The official said the missile's maximum altitude was lower than 6,000 km, the apogee of some of last year's record-breaking tests.
"So far we assess that they fired a new type of ballistic missile with an intermediate or intercontinental range," the official said. "We're still analyzing details like the trajectory, altitude and range, with the possibility that it carried a solid-fuel propellant."
The South Korean military said it was on high alert and coordinating closely with its main ally, the United States, which "strongly condemned" what the White House said was a long-range ballistic missile test.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also strongly condemned the test and called on North Korea to return to denuclearisation talks, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
While condemning the latest in a string of North Korean missile tests, Washington renewed its offer to resume talks.
"The door has not closed on diplomacy, but Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilising actions and instead choose diplomatic engagement," U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.
The launch came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for strengthening war deterrence in a "more practical and offensive" manner to counter what North Korea called moves of aggression by the United States.
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