REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday claimed it successfully test-fired a surface-to-surface medium- and long-range ballistic missile and its top leader Kim Jong Un guided the test firing, according to the state news agency KCNA.

The state media called Pukguksong-2 a "Korean style new type strategic weapon," which was developed on the instructions of top leader Kim Jong Un on the basis of the success made in the test-firing of the submarine-launched ballistic missile last August.

Kim received the report on the development of this surface-to-surface ballistic missile, set the date for the test launch and personally guided the preparations on the spot, it said.

The missile test proved the reliability and security of the surface launch system and starting feature of the high thrust solid fuel-power engine and reconfirmed the guidance and control features of the ballistic missile during its active flight and working feature of the engines and those of separation at the stages, the KCNA said.

The launch also verified the position control and guidance in the middle section and section of re-entry after the separation of the improved missile warhead, which can be tipped with a nuclear warhead, and the feature of evading interception, it added.

The state-run media noted that the test firing was conducted at a high angle considering security of the neighboring countries. Kim was satisfied with the test launch, saying that the new type ballistic missile system "provides convenience in operation and ensuring speed in striking."

He said Pukguksong-2 ballistic missile is a "Juche weapon in name and reality" because both the launching truck and the missile were designed and produced on indigenous efforts and technology.

South Korea's Joint Chief of Staff said that the DPRK fired a ballistic missile which flew about 500 km into its eastern waters early Sunday. The presumed intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile was launched at around 7:55 a.m. local time (2255 GMT Saturday) near Banghyeon in the DPRK's northwestern North Pyongan province.

Pyongyang test-fired Musudan missiles near the same place, where an airfield is located, in October last year. It was the DPRK's first test-launch of a ballistic missile in 2017 and also the first since U.S. President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.

South Korea's military said Pyongyang's launch of ballistic missile was a provocative act in violation of UN Security Council's resolutions, which ban the DPRK from testing any ballistic missile technology. The launch, the South Korean military believed, was aimed at drawing attention by showing off its nuclear and missile capability and was also part of armed protest against the Trump administration's hard-line stance toward the DPRK. 

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