<Anchor>
North Korea announced that it had launched an ICBM-class missile 'Hwasong 17' under the order of General Secretary Kim Jong-un.
Military authorities, however, remain open to the possibility that North Korea may have actually fired another type of ICBM and are conducting further analysis.
Correspondent Kim A-young reports.
<Reporter>
A Hwasong Type 17 missile mounted on a mobile launcher soars into the sky.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo containing the launch scene yesterday (24th) saying that the test launch of the Hwasong 17 was carried out while General Secretary Kim Jong-un guided the entire process.
North Korea emphasized that the launch was carried out as General Secretary Kim personally ordered the launch.
It also claimed that yesterday, the projectile rose to a peak altitude of 6,258.5 km and flew 1,090 km, with a flight time of 1 hour 7 minutes 32 seconds.
They said that they landed exactly in the waters they had planned, and that the Hwasong 17 will carry out its mission as a powerful nuclear war deterrent to protect their safety in the future.
General Secretary Kim expressed his will to continue developing nuclear weapons, saying, "The strategic choice and determination to continuously and massively strengthen a strong nuclear war deterrent is unwavering."
He also confirmed his strong stance with the United States by stating that he "will thoroughly prepare for a long-term confrontation with US imperialism."
While the military authorities are closely analyzing the launch scene,
The military is not ruling out the possibility that North Korea fired the ICBM-class Hwasong 15 instead, and replaced only the photo with the one at the time of the failure, to make up for the failure of North Korea to launch the Hwasong 17 on the 16th.