North Korea said Monday it "successfully" test-fired a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile the previous day, presenting the administration of President Donald Trump with an early foreign policy challenge and testing his commitment to U.S. allies in Asia.
The test of what North Korea called a Pukguksong-2 "new type" of "strategic weapon system" was overseen by the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, early Sunday, state-run media said, as Trump met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida.
The launch, the first such test since Trump was sworn into office Jan. 20, saw the missile fly about 500 km (300 miles) into the Sea of Japan. It was conducted using a so-called lofting technique, where the missile is launched at a high angle. North Korean state-run media said this was in order to take "the security of the neighboring countries into consideration."
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