No details were given about the missile’s origin or target, except that it “did not pose a threat to North America,” Reuters reported on the Thursday afternoon launch, citing anonymous US officials.

On Thursday, Pyongyang confirmed it had conducted tests of a “large-caliber multiple launch guided rocket system” the day before, firing several rockets into the Sea of Japan. Kim Jong-un personally oversaw the launch, according to Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The new weapon was reportedly developed over the past three years and is intended to play a major role in ground operations, causing “inescapable distress” to hostile forces.

North Korea had paused its missile tests for about two years, pending its talks with the Trump administration about denuclearization and ending the frozen conflict in the Korean peninsula. The talks stalled during the February summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, as Pyongyang asked for the lifting of some sanctions as a goodwill gesture, while the US insisted on complete disarmament before any sanctions relief.

The brief but historic meeting of Trump and Kim in the demilitarized zone in late June has not helped revive the process.

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