North Korea claims to have conducted a successful test of a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile. 

The North’s state Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) reported on Tuesday that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, oversaw the test the previous day through a monitoring system while its missile administration carried it out.

The KCNA said the missile was fired from the outskirts of Pyongyang and flew some 15-hundred kilometers at 12 times the speed of sound, reaching an altitude of nearly 100 kilometers before landing accurately at a target off the east coast. 

The KCNA added that new carbon fiber composite materials were used in the missile’s engine. 

Kim said the missile can effectively penetrate dense defense barriers and inflict a serious blow on an opponent. 

He said the aim of developing this new hypersonic missile is to steadily advance the country’s nuclear war deterrence by creating a “weapon system to which no one can respond.”