This combination of photos shows North Korea's military test-firing an intermediate and long-range ballistic missile Jan. 30, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Jan. 31. Yonhap

North Korea announced Monday it test-fired a Hwasong-12 "intermediate and long-range" ballistic missile (IRBM) the previous day, with Pyongyang's state media reporting that the accuracy of the weapons system "being produced and deployed" had been confirmed.

"The evaluation test-fire of Hwasong 12-type ground-to-ground intermediate- and long-range ballistic missile was conducted Sunday under a plan of the Academy of Defense Science, the Second Economy Commission and other institutions concerned," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English-language report.

The launch was aimed to "selectively evaluate the missile being produced and deployed and to verify the overall accuracy of the weapon system," it added. "It confirmed the accuracy, security and effectiveness of the operation of the Hwasong 12-type weapon system under production."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the launch.

The "highest-angle launch system" was used in consideration of the security of neighboring nations, the KCNA reported, without providing other flight details in the five-paragraph report.

The KCNA then released photos of the missile being launched from a transporter erector launcher (TEL), along with an image of the Earth taken from space by a camera installed in the missile warhead.

The Hwasong-12 is classified as an IRBM with a range of 3,000-5,500 kilometers by the South Korean and U.S. military authorities. The North previously launched one in September 2017.

South Korea's military said the latest missile, fired from the Jagang Province bordering China, flew about 800 km with a maximum altitude of 2,000 km before landing in the East Sea.