North Korean officials this week claimed that they have flight-tested a solid-fuel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) for the first time on Thursday.
A missile launched from North Korea on Thursday caused a brief panic in Japan as Japanese authorities in the north of the country ordered all citizens to take shelter during the test.
ICBMs would allow North Korea to hit targets potentially as far away as the mainland United States, and would enormously boost the country’s nuclear weapons programme.
Nuclear weapons experts are unsure of how successful the launch of the missile was and what its range might be.