NORTH Korea successfully test-fired an intermediate-range solid-fuel ballistic missile, state-run news agency KCNA said early on Monday, confirming prior reports from South Korea.

The missile, which was fired Sunday afternoon, was loaded with a hypersonic maneuverable controlled warhead, according to the outlet.

The point of the launch, it added, was to verify “the gliding and maneuvering characteristics” of the warhead and “reliability of newly developed multi-stage high-thrust solid-fuel engines.”

According to KCNA the test-fire “never affected the security of any neighboring country and had nothing to do with the regional situation.”

However it came just days after Pyongyang staged live-fire exercises near the country’s tense maritime border with South Korea.

The missile flew towards the East Sea travelling approximately 1,000 km, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Sunday, adding that authorities in Seoul, Washington and Tokyo were analysing the specifications.

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North Korea’s last missile test was of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which it fired into the East Sea on Dec 18. AFP