N Korea’s new missile can reach distant US bases

A file image of North Korea’s missile launch. Pic/AP

North Korea fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile toward the sea on Sunday, South Korea's military said, two months after the North claimed to have tested engines for a new harder-to-detect missile capable of striking distant US targets in the region.

The launch was the North's first this year. Experts say North Korea could ramp up its provocative missile tests as a way to influence the results of South Korea's parliamentary elections in April and the US presidential election in November.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected the launch of a ballistic missile of an intermediate-range class from the North's capital region on Sunday afternoon. It said the missile flew toward the North's eastern waters. South Korea, the US and Japan are analyzing further details of the launch as the South's military maintains readiness, according to the statement.

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