Pyongyang conducted a record seven weapons tests in January, the most ever in a Calendar month, as it threatened to abandon a self-imposed moratorium on launching long-range and nuclear weapons, blaming US "hostile" policy for forcing its hand.
North Korean state media said Monday that the country had test-fired a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, last launched in 2017, which is powerful enough to put the US territory of Guam in range.
The test "confirmed the accuracy, security and effectiveness of the operation of the Hwasong 12-type weapon system under production," the official Korean Central news Agency said Monday.
The test was conducted in a manner that ensured the "security of neighbouring countries," KCNA said.
State media released images purportedly taken by a warhead-mounted camera while it was in space, and others showing the missile blasting off from land.
There was no mention of whether leader Kim attended the launch.
South Korea said the Sunday test was of an "intermediate range ballistic missile" that flew around 800 kilometres (497 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles).
With the launch, Pyongyang has "come close to destroying the moratorium declaration," South Korean President Moon Jae-In said after an emergency National Security Council meeting Sunday.
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