Pyongyang's rogue atomic ambitions have come into sharp focus in recent weeks, with United States President Donald Trump vowing a tough stance against the North and threatening unilateral action if China failed to help curb its neighbour's nuclear programme.
In a statement on official news agency KCNA, the North's Korean People's Army said Trump had "entered the path of open threat and blackmail against the DPRK".
Pyongyang recently tested a ballistic missile and claims it is close to perfecting an intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear warhead that could attack the US mainland.
The launch, near Shinpo on North Korea's east coast, comes a day after Pyongyang held a military parade to mark the anniversary of the birth of its founder, Kim Il Sung.
Other military hardware at the parade included tanks, multiple rocket launchers and artillery guns, as well as a solid-fuel missile created to be fired from submarines.
This year's celebrations come at a tense time on the Korean Peninsula, days after a United States strike group was deployed to the region and amid expectations of another missile or nuclear test by Pyongyang.
"The launch of the ballistic missile occurred near Sinpo".
The rockets carried on articulated trailers appeared to be longer than the North's existing KN-08 or KN-14 missiles, analysts said.
China, North Korea's sole supporter, has stepped in to calm the rising tensions.
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Mr Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday that the North is looking for trouble.
Many experts believe that at its current pace of testing, North Korea could reach that potentially game-changing milestone within a few years - under Trump's watch as president.
Kim did not address the rally himself on Saturday, instead waving and smiling as ecstatic crowds of flag- and flower-bearing civilians - men in suits, women in traditional hanbok dresses - filed past him behind the military display. U.S., South Korean and other officials are closely monitoring the North amid indications it could conduct another missile test or nuclear explosion to coincide with an important national anniversary this weekend. Coal sales are an important source of revenue for Kim Jong Un's government, and the USA says China has turned back some shipments in recent days.
Other senior officials joining Kim at the parade podium included Kim Won Hong, who the South Korean government had said earlier this year was sacked from his job as state security minister, presumably over corruption.
North Korea showed two new kinds of ICBM enclosed in canister launchers mounted on the back of transporter erector launcher trucks, or TELs.
North Korea conducted two nuclear tests past year alone, advancing its goal to make nuclear weapons small enough to fit on long-range missiles.
The officials are hopeful China and Russian Federation would agree to tighter United Nations sanctions on North Korea if it conducts another nuclear test.
Last year, Pyongyang tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile near the coastal city of Sinpo. South Korea has a spotty record of tracking developments in North Korea, as information about the secretive, authoritarian state is often impossible to confirm.
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