North Korea said Wednesday that it has successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile.

According to the North’s state Korean Central News Agency(KCNA), North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided the testing of the Hwasong-16 missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead, which was launched from a military training ground on the outskirts of Pyongyang on Tuesday. 

The KCNA said that the missile reached a primary altitude of 101-point-one kilometers and a secondary maximum altitude of 72-point-three kilometers, flying one-thousand kilometers along a scheduled trajectory before landing in the East Sea. 

The North Korean state news agency said that the test confirmed the agile and superb maneuverability of the new warhead, as well as the military and strategic value of the new intermediate-range hypersonic missile.

Kim lauded it as a strategic weapon that demonstrates the "absolute superiority" of North Korea's defense technology, saying that all of the country’s tactical, operational, and strategic missiles are now solid-fuel and nuclear capable.

The South Korean military said Tuesday it detected the firing of a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile from the Pyongyang region at 6:53 a.m., stating the missile flew about 600 kilometers before falling into the East Sea.

[Photo : YONHAP News]