DPRK test-fires new ICBM, KCNA reports

SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile toward eastern waters on Friday, under the inspection of its top leader Kim Jong Un, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday.

The new-type ICBM Hwasongpho-17 was launched at the Pyongyang International Airport and traveled a distance of 999.2 km for 4,135 seconds, before accurately landing on a preset area in eastern open waters, the report said, lauding the test-fire as a clear verification of the reliability and powerful combat performance of the new strategic weapon system.

The top DPRK leader commended the successful test-launch and cited the recent dangerous situation on the Korea Peninsula as an imperative for his country to "substantially accelerate the bolstering of overwhelming nuclear deterrence".

Kim said that the more the United States is obsessed with its military bluffing on the Korean Peninsula and the surrounding areas by means of "strengthened offer of extended deterrence" to its allies and war exercises, the more offensive the DPRK's military counteraction will be.

He warned that if enemies continue to pose threats by frequently introducing nuclear strike means, his country will resolutely "react to nukes with nuclear weapons and to total confrontation with all-out confrontation".