North Korea launched Thursday a "new type" of ballistic missile, likely to be solid-fuel, according to the South Korean military, which would represent a major technical and strategic advance for Pyongyang's weapons programme.

The launch of the missile caused a state of alert for a short period in the Japanese island of Hokkaido (north), before Tokyo confirmed that it had not fallen on its territory.

"It appears that North Korea has launched a new type of ballistic missile, most likely solid fuel," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.

All of the ICBMs that North Korea has launched to date are liquid-fueled. The solid-fuel missiles Pyongyang has long sought to develop are more stable and faster to prepare for launch than liquid-fuel missiles, making them harder for US forces to detect and destroy.

The South Korean military said the missile, which was launched Thursday at 7:23 am (22:23 GMT), "traveled 1,000 kilometers before falling into the East Sea", the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

The United States "strongly" condemned Thursday's launch by North Korea of a "long-range ballistic missile," the White House said.

"This launch flagrantly violates many UN Security Council resolutions, unnecessarily increases tensions and threatens to destabilize security in the region," said Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council.

"The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure" its security and the security of its allies, South Korea and Japan, she added.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said details of the launch were being analyzed.

And Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Thursday that the missile launched by North Korea "did not fall on Japanese territory."

For his part, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told the press that the missile "is likely to be an intercontinental ballistic missile," noting that its trajectory was "severely inclined to the east." He added that the missile did not appear to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

North Korean missiles have repeatedly flown over Japan in the past.

The missile launch caused a brief alert on Hokkaido, in the northern Japanese archipelago.

On Thursday morning, the Japanese government urged residents of the Hokkaido region to take shelter after North Korea fired the missile.

"Evacate immediately. Evacuate immediately," the government said in a warning, asking Hokkaido residents to take shelter in buildings or underground.

But the coast guard and local authorities quickly ruled out any danger.

The missile launch came as two ministerial meetings of the rich G7 countries are scheduled to be held in Japan in the coming days: a meeting of environment ministers in Hokkaido on Saturday and Sunday, and a meeting of foreign ministers Sunday and Monday in Karuizawa (center).
Pyongyang has stepped up weapons tests in recent months, raising tensions with Seoul and Washington, which have both stepped up their military cooperation and carried out large-scale joint exercises in the region.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called on Monday to increase his country's deterrent capabilities "to counter the increasing maneuvers of the American colonialists and traitorous puppets in South Korea."

Since March 23, Pyongyang said it had conducted three tests of an "unmanned nuclear submarine" capable of "causing a large-scale radioactive tsunami".

The North Korean regime also said it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on March 16. Last year, North Korea declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear power, and Kim recently called for a "massive" increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear ones.

Satellite images taken a month ago revealed a high level of activity at North Korea's main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, according to the US-based "38 North".

Also in March, Kim ordered his forces to intensify their maneuvers, in preparation for a "real war." Washington and Seoul responded with new joint military exercises, including US stealth aircraft.

Seoul and Washington carried out joint air exercises on April 5 that included at least one US nuclear-capable B-52H bomber, according to the South Korean military.

North Korea regards the maneuvers as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory and has repeatedly warned that it will take "crushing" measures in response.