UPDATE: 11:43 p.m. EST — North Korea confirmed in a statement Wednesday that their new-type ICBM missile launch was successful. They claimed that the Hwasong-15 is a type of ballistic missile “tipped with super-large heavy warhead which is capable of striking the whole mainland of the U.S.”

Original story:

North Korea fired its highest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile early Wednesday, according to officials in South Korea, Japan and the United States. The missile, named Hwasong-15, is also the country's longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

"North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile eastward from the vicinity of Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province, at dawn today," South Korean army officials told South Korean news agency Yonhap. The missile, which landed in Japanese waters, was fired from Pyongsong, a city in South Pyongan Province, at around 3:17 a.m. local time Wednesday (1:47 p.m. EST Tuesday), according to South Korea's military.

Kim Jong Un personally authorized Wednesday’s launch of Hwasong-15, which the North said was “its most powerful missile so far” and one that “can reach all of the mainland U.S.” Hwasong-15 is presumed to be a modified version of Hwasong-14, which the north had fired earlier in July.

It was earlier presumed to be a Hwasong-14 long-range ballistic missile.

"The higher apogee and longer flight time suggest that this test involved a Hwasong-14 similar to the one fired 28 July, but with a second stage powered by four small engines derived from the Soviet R-27 missile, instead of just two," 38 North explained in a tweet.

It also stated that an earlier launch on July 28, 2017, was a Hwasong-14 ICBM, which was said to have reached an altitude of 3,725 km approximately, had been aloft for 47 minutes, 12 seconds and landed about 998 km from the launch site.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the missile launched on Wednesday flew around 960 km at an altitude of 4,500 km.

The Hwasong-14 has an estimated range of over 10,000 km, thus making it capable of reaching most of the continental United States. It is alternatively called the KN-20. North Korea had successfully flight tested the Hwasong-14 for the first time on July 4, 2017 . This missile has a single liquid-fueled engine and it is accompanied by four Vernier thrusters for stability and guidance. It is considered to be a two-staged version of the single-stage Hwasong-12, an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera stated that the missile reached an approximate altitude of around 4,000 kilometers (2485 miles) and broke up before landing in the country's "exclusive economic zone."

His U.S. counterpart, Jim Mattis, claimed that the missile went higher than ever before, describing it as a step towards North Korea building missiles that can "threaten everywhere in the world, basically."

It marked the North's first ballistic missile launch since Sept. 15, when it fired an intermediate ballistic missile. The Wednesday missile test came despite repeated warnings from President Donald Trump, who has said he would counter the isolated north Asian country with "fire and fury" if it threatened the U.S.

Strongly condemning Pyongyang’s latest long-range missile launch, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Trump agreed over a phone call to maintain maximum pressure and sanctions against North Korea. The agreement came in a telephone conversation held only few hours after North Korea fired the missile, according to Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House), Yonhap reported.

"The two leaders strongly condemned North Korea for again launching a long-range ballistic missile despite the international community's repeated warnings and its continued sanctions and pressure under a series of U.N. Security Council resolutions," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun said in a press briefing.

"Also, the two leaders agreed to continue their efforts to bring North Korea to the dialogue table by continuing to put sanctions and pressure on North Korea in close cooperation with the international community, while firmly and strongly dealing with North Korean provocations based on the strong joint defense posture of South Korea and the United States," he added.

Hours after the missile launch, Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White House the U.S. "will handle" the situation. "We will take care of it," the president said, adding later that North Korea "is a situation that we will handle."

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