North Korea said Tuesday it has successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) tipped with a hypersonic warhead, saying the weapons system will reliably deter any rivals in the Pacific region.

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 fired its first ballistic missile of year into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan - Anadolu Ajansı