The South Korean military says the latest missile launched by North Korea is a new solid-propellant intermediate-range ballistic missile.(IRBM)
 
An official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a news briefing on Monday that the missile is not a modified Musudan but an intermediate-range ballistic missile.
 
He said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may have ordered the development of a new ground-launched missile with a longer range, following the test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile(SLBM) in August last year. The official added it appears that the North is developing a ground-launched missile based on its SLBM technology.
 
The JCS official explained that a caterpillar mobile launcher and a cold launch system were used in Sunday’s test launch.