North Korea calls ballistic missile launch a success

A woman walks past news footage of North Korea's missile launch.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

North Korea's state-run news agency KCNA said Monday that its missile launch on Sunday, supervised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was a successful test of a new weapon it claims can carry a nuclear warhead.

The South Korean military says the missile, which landed in the Sea of Japan, traveled 340 miles, and an official told NBC News it was "highly likely" the missile was an improved version of the Musudan-type intermediate-range missile. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the launch "absolutely intolerable," and said North Korea "must comply with the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.