North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has approved the mass production and deployment of a new medium- to long-range ballistic missile following another "successful" test, the country's official media said Monday.

(Rodong Sinmun)

A day after North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew about 500 kilometers before falling into waters off its east coast, the country disclosed through its state-run news agency some details of the test.

The Pukguksong-2 missile, also known also as the KN-15, is a land-based variant of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, using pre-loaded solid fuel that makes it more difficult for outside observers to detect liftoff in advance.

Kim, who supervised and observed the test, voiced "great satisfaction" over the missile's accuracy and hailed the Pukguksong-2 as a "successful strategic weapon," the Korean Central News Agency said, without reporting when it was conducted.

The purpose of the test was to "finally verify all the technical indexes of the weapon system and thoroughly examine its adaptability under various battle conditions, before its deployment at military units for action," KCNA said.

Kim approved the deployment of the missile to be used by its military and ordered that it should be rapidly mass-produced, it said.

The latest test came just a week after North Korea said it had successfully tested what it called a new type of ground-to-ground medium- to long-range ballistic missile that flew nearly 800 km and traveled as high as about 2,100 km.

(Rodong Sinmun)

South Korea's military said Sunday a missile believed to be the Pukguksong-2 type was fired from a site in the vicinity of Pukchang in South Pyeongan Province and reached an altitude of about 560 km.

Japanese officials said it landed in waters about 400 km away from Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan.

North Korea tested the same type of missile in February, when U.S. President Donald Trump was meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida, and said it was a follow-up of the success achieved by an SLBM test in August 2016.

KCNA said the latest missile was fired from a caterpillar-type transporter erector launcher, using a "cold launch" system, which initially ejects a projectile by compressed gas before its rocket engine ignites.

It said the test also confirmed necessary functions of a nuclear warhead through telemetry data, such as the accuracy of its posture control based on real-time images sent from a camera mounted on the missile's tip.

North Korea's most influential Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Monday printed numerous photographs of the test, including some with a smiling Kim and one with several images of the Earth purportedly taken by the camera.

(Rodong Sinmun)

Kim was quoted as saying that North Korea should continue to "diversify and upgrade" its nuclear arms before the United States and its followers come to regain consciousness.

Amid concerns over North Korea's rapid progress on its missile technology, the United States has been stepping up pressure on Kim's regime, both diplomatically and militarily.

While seeking to work more closely not only with its regional allies, but also with China, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump suggested even harsher sanctions be imposed on North Korea if it does not change course.

In a show of force, the United States has also sent the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan recently from its home port of Yokosuka, Japan, to waters off the Korean Peninsula, where a naval strike group led by the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson was already deployed.

North Korea is banned by the United Nations from testing nuclear weapons or missile technology and is already subject to multiple international sanctions.

Still, there are no signs of Kim's regime abandoning its desire to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting as far as the U.S. mainland.

(Rodong Sinmun)

North Korea conducted two nuclear explosions and test-fired more than 20 ballistic missiles last year alone.

The launch Sunday was the eighth in 2017. The missile was fired around 4:59 p.m. Japan time, the first time to have taken place in the afternoon this year, with some North Korea watchers saying it was aimed at demonstrating to the rest of the world its ability to take military action at any time.

The U.N. Security Council is planning to convene an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss its response to North Korea's defiant actions, according to diplomats.

The meeting is being set at the request of Japan, South Korea and the United States, they said.

(Rodong Sinmun)