North Korea claims new ballistic missile capable of carrying huge warhead

North Korea said Tuesday it had test-fired a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a huge warhead, as the country is pushing to modernise its weapons arsenal to cope with what it calls US-led threats.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency called the weapon Hwasongpho-11Da-4.5 which can carry 4.5 ton-class super-large warhead.

It said the test-fire on Monday was meant to verify flight stability and hit accuracy at the maximum range of 500 kilometres (310 miles) and the minimum range of 90 kilometres (55 miles).

South Korea's military earlier said that North Korea launched two ballistic missiles from one of its southwestern towns in a northeastern direction on Monday and that the first missile flew 600 kilometres (370 miles) and the second missile 120 kilometres (75 miles). The second missile's flight distance was too short to reach the waters off the North's east coast, a typical landing site for North Korean test missiles.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff