North Korea has successfully tested a long-range cruise missile, which analysts fear is capable of MT.
The missile is "a very important strategic weapon" and can cover a distance of up to 1,500 kilometers, the foreign news agency Wright quoted North Korea's state-run CNA news agency as saying.
He added that "the missile is capable of entering enemy territory", adding that North Korea had tested the missile between Saturday and Sunday night.
Ballistic missiles are less criticized than North Korea's cruise missiles because they are not banned under UN Security Council resolutions.
Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said it would be the first cruise missile in North Korea designed specifically for a "strategic" role.
"It's for a nuclear-capable system," he said.
It is not clear if North Korea has mastered the technology needed to make nuclear missiles that are capable of carrying cruise missiles, but North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said earlier this year that small bombs Preparing is a top priority.
North and South Korea are in a fast-paced arms race, with analysts fearing the region could be filled with powerful new missiles.
The South Korean military did not say whether it had traced North Korea's latest experiments, but said it was conducting a detailed analysis in cooperation with the United States.
The U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command (Indo-Paccom) said it was aware of the reports and was liaising with its allies and partners.
Indopakom said in a statement that North Korea's move posed a threat to the development of its military program and to its neighbors and the international community.
Jeffrey Lewis, a missile researcher at the James Martin Center for Non-Palliative Studies, said intermediate-range surface-to-air cruise missiles are no less dangerous than ballistic missiles and have extraordinary potential for North Korea.
"This is another system that can deceive even the missile defense radar," he said on the social networking site Twitter.
