N Korea Tested Land-Based Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile - Pentagon

The North Korean military appears to have tested a land-based variant of its submarine-launched intermediate-range ballistic missile on Saturday, US Department of Defense spokesperson Jeff Davis said in a briefing.

WASHINGTON(Sputnik) — The medium-range ballistic missile was fired from an airbase in the western province of North Pyongan and traveled around 300 miles before plunging into the Sea of Japan on January 12. The test was declared successful by Pyongyang.

"It is very similar to what they have launched from their submarines in the past," Davis told reporters on Monday. "It appears to be a land-based variant of it. It is an intermediate-range ballistic missile."

North Korea’s neighbors warned Pyongyang they considered the launch a provocation and a violation of the UNSC resolution, which prohibits it from carrying out ballistic missile tests.

North Korea has conducted a number of missile launches in the past months as well as its fifth and biggest nuclear test last September, prompting condemnation from the United Nations.