SEOUL -- North Korea's new and improved ballistic missile shows the country's weapons development is proceeding swiftly despite international pressure, though experts say a fully functional nuclear-tipped deterrent remains a long way off.
North Korea labeled the rocket launched early Wednesday morning a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile in a statement released later in the day. The lofted trajectory, which sacrifices range for height, took it to a maximum altitude of 4,475km, the statement said. The Hwasong-14 the North fired on July 28 reached as high as 3,724km.
