North Korea announced that it had tested a new missile

North Korea says it has tested a new intermediate-range solid-fuel missile with a hypersonic warhead, in an effort to create a more powerful weapon designed to hit distant targets in the region that are harder to detect.

North Korean state media reported the announcement a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected a launch from a site near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

The launch came two months after North Korea said it had successfully tested engines for a new solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile in an effort to advance its array of weapons aimed at US military bases in Guam and Japan, according to the AP.

The official North Korean Central News Agency said Sunday's launch was aimed at confirming the reliability of the solid-fuel rocket engine and the maneuverability of the hypersonic warhead, N1 reports.

According to the press release, the test was successful, but no other details were released. It was also not stated whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended the launch.