SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) successfully test-fired a new-type intermediate-range ballistic missile on Monday, with its top leader overseeing the event, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Tuesday.

After the missile was fired northeastward from a launching ground in a suburban area of Pyongyang, the hypersonic glide vehicle mounted on the missile reached its first peak at the height of 99.8 kilometers and the second peak at the height of 42.5 kilometers respectively while making a 1,500-km-long flight as scheduled at the speed amounting to 12 times of the speed of sound. It finally landed on the target waters in the open sea, according to the KCNA report.

The KCNA report stressed that a new compound of carbon fiber was used in the manufacture of the engine body of the missile and a new comprehensive and effective method based on the already-accumulated technologies was introduced in its flight and guidance control system.

Noting the Monday test confirmed the effectiveness of the weapon system, Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, called the development of the new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile a "linchpin" of the country's strategic deterrence.

"The hypersonic missile system will reliably contain any rivals in the Pacific region that can affect the security of our state," the DPRK leader was quoted by the KCNA as saying. Enditem

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