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The photo on the left shows the hypersonic missile that North Korea claimed to have successfully launched on Wednesday, while the photo on the right shows the Hwasong-8 that was fired last September. (Yonhap News)

North Korea launched what is thought to be a ballistic missile on Tuesday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

“We detected a projectile presumed to be a ballistic missile that North Korea fired from an inland location toward the East Sea at 7:27 am. South Korean and American intelligence authorities are conducting a detailed analysis of additional information,” the Joint Chiefs said in a statement sent to reporters on Tuesday. That analysis reportedly covers data including altitude and distance traveled.

The launch on Tuesday came just six days after North Korea fired a ballistic missile — which it claimed to be a hypersonic missile — from the area of Jagang Province into the East Sea on Wednesday. That makes the North’s second show of force since the New Year.

The launch took place on the very day that the UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting about North Korea’s ballistic missile launch on Wednesday.

“The DPRK’s continued pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs is a threat to international peace and security,” US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a joint statement on Monday along with Japan and several European countries shortly before the Security Council’s meeting.

The DPRK is an acronym for the official name of North Korea.

The results of the meeting have yet to be released at the time of reporting.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]