North Korea claims it has successfully test-fired an intermediate-range solid-fuel ballistic missile, state-run news agency KCNA confirmed early Monday, categorising the launch as part of its “regular activities for developing powerful weapon systems.”

The missile was loaded with a hypersonic manoeuvrable controlled warhead when it was fired off Sunday afternoon, according to the outlet.

The test was meant to verify “the gliding and manoeuvring characteristics” of the warhead and “reliability of newly developed multi-stage high-thrust solid-fuel engines,” KCNA said.

It added that the test-firing “never affected the security of any neighbouring country and had nothing to do with the regional situation.”

However, it came just days after Pyongyang staged live-fire exercises near the country’s tense maritime border with South Korea, which prompted counter-exercises and evacuation orders for some South Korean border islands.

The missile flew towards the East Sea travelling approximately 1,000 kilometres (621 miles), Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement Sunday, adding that authorities in Seoul, Washington and Tokyo were analysing the specifications.

North Korea’s latest missile test was of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which it fired into the East Sea on December 18.

Leader Kim Jong Un earlier this week branded Seoul his “principal enemy” and warned he would not hesitate to annihilate South Korea, as he toured major weapons factories.

“The historic time has come at last when we should define as a state most hostile toward the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the entity called the Republic of Korea (South Korea),” Kim was reported as saying by KCNA.