North Korea fired what is assumed to be a hypersonic missile on Monday, which is the regime's first ballistic missile launch in the new year.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS), the military detected a ballistic missile fired from the Pyongyang area towards the East Sea at around noon Monday.

The missile traveled some one-thousand-100 kilometers before falling into the sea.

While the missile was previously assessed to carry a medium-range engine with a range of between three-thousand and five-thousand-500 kilometers, the actual flight distance fell short.

Under an assumption that the missile could be an improved version of a solid-fuel hypersonic missile the North fired last January and April, the South Korean military has begun a comprehensive analysis of detailed specifications.

This is Pyongyang's first missile launch in two months after firing a short-range ballistic missile(SRBM) on November 5 last year and comes just two weeks ahead of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.