North Korea releases pictures from space taken from ‘biggest missile launch in years’

This combo picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows what Pyongyang says is the test-fire of a Hwasong 12-type missile

(Picture: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)

North Korea has released photographs from space which it says were taken from a ballistic missile capable of reaching the US territory of Guam.

Pyongyang has claimed Sunday’s launch of the intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile was its most significant in years.

North Korea said the missile was launched toward waters off its east coast on a high angle to prevent flying over other countries.

The missile flew nearly 500 miles and reached a maximum altitude of 1,200 miles before landing between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The reported flight details make it the most powerful missile North Korea has tested since 2017.

The Hwasong-12 missile is a nuclear-capable ground-to-ground weapon with a maximum range of 4,500 kilometres (2,800 miles) when it is fired on a standard trajectory.

People watch a TV showing an image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station (AP)

It is a distance sufficient to reach Guam, home to US military bases that have previously advanced warplanes to the Korean Peninsula in shows of force. In August 2017, at the height of tensions with the then-Trump administration, North Korea threatened to make “an enveloping fire” near Gaum with Hwasong-12 missiles.

In 2017, North Korea also test-fired intercontinental ballistic missiles called Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 that experts say demonstrated their potential capacity to reach the mainland US.

Sunday’s launch was the North’s seventh round of missile launches in January alone. Other weapons tested recently include a developmental hypersonic missile and a submarine-launched missile.

North Korea has publicly vowed to add more powerful missiles and nuclear warheads in its arsenal.

After the latest launch, the White House voiced concern escalating missile tests could be precursors to resumed tests of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). A senior vowed an unspecified response “designed to show our commitment to our allies”.

“It’s not just what they did yesterday, it’s the fact that this is coming on the heels of quite a significant number of tests in this month,” the official said.