North Korea says intermediate-range missile tested took pictures from space

It was North Korea's most significant weapon launch in years, as Washington plans to respond to demonstrate it's committed to its allies' security in the region.

North Korea confirmed Monday it test-launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam, the North’s most significant weapon launch in years, as Washington plans to respond to demonstrate it’s committed to its allies’ security in the region.

The official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday’s test of the Hwasong-12 missile was aimed at selectively evaluating the missile being produced and deployed and verify its overall accuracy.

It said a camera installed at the missile’s warhead took an image of Earth from space, and the Academy of Defense Science confirmed the accuracy, security and effectiveness of the operation of the weapons system.

North Korea said the missile was launched toward the waters off its east coast and on a high angle to prevent it from overflying other countries. It gave no further details.

According to South Korean and Japanese assessment, the missile flew about 800 kilometers (497 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The reported flight details make it the most powerful missile North Korea tested since 2017, when the country launched Hwasong-12 and longer-range missiles in a torrid run of weapons firings to acquire an ability to launch nuclear strikes on U.S. military bases in North Asia and the Pacific and even the American homeland.

The Hwasong-12 missile is a nuclear-capable ground-to-ground weapon, whose maximum range is 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) when it’s fired on a standard trajectory. It’s a distance sufficient to reach the U.S. territory of Guam. In August 2017, at the height of animosities with the then-Trump administration, North Korea’s Strategic Forces threatened to make “an enveloping fire” near Gaum with Hwasong-12 missiles.

In 2017, North Korea also test-fired intercontinental ballistic missiles called Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 that experts say demonstrated their potential capacity to reach the mainland U.S.