North Korea was likely responding to this month's deployment of the USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan nuclear carriers by the U.S.in the Sea of Japan.
A U.S. State Department spokeswoman suggested Thursday that the North Korean issue remained far from any solution.
It also comes a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in formally said he would halt the deployment of a controversial US missile-defense system in South Korea while the government conducts an environmental assessment of the site in southern South Korea.
Analysts say the environmental test would make it hard for the four launchers to be deployed this year.
Brian Padden reported this story for VOA News. The trial was the first meant to replicate the flight profile of an ICBM that could be deployed by North Korea.
North Korea's regime has claimed that its new rocket could deliver a "large heavy nuclear warhead" all the way to the USA mainland.
The missiles were said to have flown some 200 kilometers, according to a Yonhap report.
Early last month, the North test-fired what appeared to be its longest-range ballistic missile to date, but analysts doubt that the North has developed an ICBM or a nuclear warhead small enough to fit atop a missile.
Meanwhile, South Korea suspended temporarily the further deployment of the advanced United States missile defense system known as THAAD over certain bureaucratic irregularities surrounding its installation.
The original Xbox controller is back for Xbox One and PC
Xbox boss Phil Spencer was interviewed about the new console, saying the PS4 Pro is an Xbox one S competitor, not an Xbox One X. As Kotaku notes, the Xbox One X is indeed a powerful gaming console and one that hardcore fans might absolutely love.
Newly tested missiles could be seen as "defensive in nature" - they are created to thwart enemy warship.
"The latest launch seems to be a show of force to display the North's precision-strike capability against ships in response to South Korea-U.S. joint maritime exercises with a U.S. Navy strike group", a Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman here said.
Pyongyang often accuses Seoul of kidnapping its citizens and forcing them to defect to the South. Analysts say the most recent weapons test were both a way to make political demands clear to foreign leaders and a way to pressure Moon. North Korea conducted the test as US aircraft carriers began to exit the Sea of Japan after conducting exercises.
This year has marked a rapid uptick in the number of missile tests being carried out by the country, with Thursday's launch marking the 13th test since the beginning of 2017.
The test was the first of a "new-type ground-to-sea cruise rocket" developed by Academy of National Defense Science and displayed at the April 15 Day of the Sun military parade, according to KCNA.
The missiles flew at an altitude of 1.2 miles before falling into the Sea of Japan.
South Korea's new president is shifting policy when it comes to a program of missile defense.
North Korea has been testing at a rapid pace but it has also been demonstrating many different types of missiles.
"But I think North Korea is sending a clear message to say that, 'We see the USA sailing these ships off our coasts as a potential threat and we're developing systems that could make it harder for the U.S.to do that, '" David Wright, Co-Director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told me.
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