SEOUL: North Korea has succeeded in test-firing Tuesday a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead, the country’s state media said Wednesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guided the launch and “said with pride that another powerful strategic offensive weapon was developed,” according to the Korean Central News Agency.

The test launch verified the maneuvering capability of the warhead, it said.

Kim was quoted as saying that North Korea has succeeded in the project of making all missiles “solid-fueled, warhead-controlled and nuclear warhead-carrying,” and that the success will bring about great change in enhancing the country’s nuclear war deterrence capability.

The latest hypersonic warhead is said to be difficult to detect and intercept because it can separate from the missile and glide. Solid-fuel missiles can be launched in a shorter period of time than liquid-fuel missiles, which require time to inject fuel.

According to the state-run agency, the latest missile was launched with limited speed and altitude for safety reasons. It was launched from the outskirts of Pyongyang, and the separated warhead landed 1,000 kilometers away in the Sea of Japan.

“The test-fire had no adverse effect on the security of neighboring countries,” the agency claimed.

The South Korean military announced Tuesday that North Korea launched what is believed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan the same day. The test-fire announced by the KCNA is believed to be the launch in question.

JIJI Press