North Korea says its latest weapons test was a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to strike targets in the Pacific as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further expand his collection of nucle

North Korea has fired what appears to be an intermediate range ballistic missile towards the sea to its east, South Korea's military said, in what is Pyongyang's first missile launch in two months. Japan's defence ministry said around noon local time (03:00 GMT) that the projectile had already fallen into the sea.

North Korea launched a medium-range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s military confirmed.

South Korea says North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew 685 miles before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan

Kim Jong Un described the missile test as a crucial achievement in his goals to bolster North Korea's nuclear deterrence. Lee Sung Joon, Spokesperson of South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, downplayed the test,