North Korea said Thursday it successfully test-fired a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile the previous day that set "new records" in terms of altitude and flight time, with leader Kim Jong Un vowing a stronger military offensive to counter the United States and South Korea.
Kim oversaw the launch of the Hwasong-18 missile, which traveled up to a maximum altitude of 6,648.4 kilometers and flew a distance of 1,001.2 km for about 75 minutes before accurately landing in a target area in the Sea of Japan, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
The launch of the Hwasong-18, propelled by a three-stage rocket system, was the second of its kind following a test conducted on April 13. It is viewed as capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
A solid-fuel missile does not require fueling prior to launch like a liquid-fuel missile, making it harder for adversaries to detect launch preparations and giving it a wider range of capabilities.
"All the new records confirmed through the test-fire proved the capability, reliability and military utility of the new-type strategic weapon system," KCNA said.
The report said the test was conducted at a time when the security situation on the Korean Peninsula has reached a "phase of nuclear crisis beyond the Cold War era" amid "unprecedented military provocations" against Pyongyang by the United States and its "vassal forces."
Kim warned that "a series of stronger military offensive will be launched until (the United States and South Korea)...admit their shameful defeat of their useless hostile policy" toward Pyongyang and give it up, according to KCNA.
The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Thursday on the North's latest missile launch at the request of Japan and the United States.
The ICBM fell some 250 kilometers west of Okushiri Island, just off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido but outside Tokyo's exclusive economic zone. KCNA said the test had no negative effect on the security of countries that are neighbors to North Korea.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno on Thursday condemned the North's latest missile launch as "intolerable," saying it "endangers the peace and security" of the region. He pledged that Japan will closely work with the United States and South Korea to monitor the situation.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller criticized Pyongyang Wednesday for its "brazen violation" of U.N. Security Council resolutions, saying the launch "needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region."
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