North Korea has launched a 'new type' of missiles

The missile is capable of landing on or near the northern island of Hokkaido. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North Korean missile was launched from a high-altitude location near the capital Pyongyang at 7:23 a.m. Thursday local time.

JCS said the missile is suspected to be intermediate-range or longer. It flew about 1,000 kilometers into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan before hitting the sea. The JCS considers such a launch to be a 'serious escalation of tensions'.

Japan says the missile hit the sea. But it didn't say exactly where it hit. In a message to reporters, the JCS said intelligence agencies in South Korea and the United States were trying to find out the details.

South Korean television YTN quoted a military official as saying it could be a test launch of a new type of weapon displayed in a recent military parade. I am not ruling out the possibility that the projectile was a solid-fuel missile. Solid fuel technology makes rockets easier to transport and launch faster than liquid-fueled rockets.

A defense official said Tokyo had "strongly protested" against North Korea's move.

Seoul called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council after Thursday's launch. The meeting condemned North Korea's test.

The launch was also criticized by the White House. The White House says this is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. It called on other countries to condemn such actions by Pyongyang.

Source - Al Jazeera