North Korea confirms launch of longest-range missile since 2017

North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Sunday to “verify its accuracy,” state media reported on Monday, without mentioning the presence of leader Kim Jong Un.

The test — the longest-range weapon that the DPRK has tested since Nov. 2017 and the first of the Hwasong-12 since Sept. 2017 — was carried out by the Academy of Defense Science and the Second Economic Commission, according to the state-run Voice of Korea (VOK).