N. Korea says new missile ready for mass production

North Korea said on Monday that it successfully tested a solid-fuel ballistic missile that it is capable of reaching Japan and major U.S. military bases, according to state media.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch from an observation post and ordered it for deployment, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim reportedly hailed the launch as a success and “approved the deployment of this weapon system for action” and said that it should “be rapidly mass-produced.”

The launch was the country’s second missile test in a little more than a week as the country continues to defy demands that it rein in its nuclear and missile programs.

The new ground-to-ground missile, Pukguksong-2, flew about 310 miles and reached an altitude of about 350 miles on Sunday.

The test quiets hopes of peace between North and South Korea. South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it strongly condemns the launch and urged North Korea to immediately stop any actions that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.

President Donald Trump, in the midst of his first foreign trip as president, had no immediate public comment on the test.

Referring to North Korea’s missile launches in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, “The ongoing testing is disappointing, it’s disturbing, and we ask that they cease that, because until they cease that testing, clearly they have not changed their view. But I think we’re early into the game of putting pressure on them. And one could also interpret that perhaps they’re just acting out now in response to some of this pressure that I believe they’re beginning to feel.”