North Korea says it tested a Hwasong-12 missile and took pictures from space

North Korea confirmed on Monday that it had tested a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Sunday, according to state news agency KCNA. This was the first time a nuclear-capable missile of this size had been launched since 2017.

The launch was first reported by South Korean and Japanese authorities on Sunday. Analysts and officials said the test appeared to involve an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which North Korea has not tested since 2017, when it suspended tests of its largest missiles and nuclear weapons.

“The inspection fire test was carried out for the purpose of selectively inspecting the Hwasong-12 ground-to-ground medium-range long-range ballistic missile and verifying the overall accuracy of this weapon system,” KCNA said. North Korea has previously said the Hwasong-12 can carry a “large heavy nuclear warhead”.

KCNA said the missile launch was carried out in order to ensure the safety of neighboring countries and that the test warhead was equipped with a camera that took pictures while in space. Photos released by state media showed space footage of North Korea and surrounding areas through a round camera lens. North Korea first took these photos in 2017, analysts said.

Leader Kim Jong Un reportedly did not participate in the test, which was at least the seventh launch in January, one of the busiest ever for North Korea’s missile program. On Sunday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the launch takes North Korea one step closer to fully eliminating a self-imposed moratorium on testing its longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Kim said he was no longer bound by that moratorium, which included a halt to nuclear weapons testing and was announced in 2018 amid a flurry of diplomacy and summits with the then-United States chaired by Donald Trump.

North Korea suggested this month that it might restart such testing activities because the United States and its allies have shown no signs of abandoning their “hostile policies”. It’s unclear whether IRBMs like the Hwasong-12 were included in Kim’s moratorium, but those too haven’t been tested since 2017.

That year, North Korea tested the Hwasong-12 at least six times, achieving three successful flights and three failures.

Controversially, in two of those tests, North Korea launched the missile over the Japanese island of Hokkaido in northern Japan. In Sunday’s test, North Korea said it fired the missile at an elevated trajectory “out of consideration for the safety of neighboring countries”. The test “confirmed the accuracy, safety and operational effectiveness of the Hwasong-12-type weapons system produced,” KCNA said.