North Korea Marks Weapons Advance With Launch of Solid-Fueled ICBM

SEOUL—North Korea said that it had launched a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, which would give the country a new weapon that is faster to deploy and harder to detect, marking a significant advance in its military technology.

On Friday, North Korea said the ICBM, which it called the Hwasongpho-18, would “radically promote the effectiveness of its nuclear counterattack posture,” according to state media. Pyongyang said the new missile was fired to test the performance of the high-thrust, solid-fuel engine used for multistage missiles and other technologies, according to state media.

The missile was launched at a lofted trajectory Thursday from an area near North Korea’s capital of Pyongyang and traveled for more than 600 miles before landing in waters east of the Korean Peninsula, according to South Korea’s military.

A South Korean military official said on Thursday that Seoul suspected North Korea had fired a new type of ballistic missile that uses solid fuel. Pyongyang has been developing solid-fueled ICBMs—which require less preparation time to launch and are easier to conceal—but hadn’t previously fired one.