North Korea says intermediate missile’s range bests Tokyo and Seoul estimates

North Korea claimed Sunday that a military drill involving an “intermediate-range strategic missile” saw the weapon fly 1,000 kilometers — around 300 km further than estimates by Tokyo and Seoul. The exercise, overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was conducted as part of efforts to train soldiers operating the “hypersonic strategic weapon system” and “evaluate the reliability, efficiency and mobility of the DPRK’s war deterrent,” the country’s official Korean Central News Agency reported. DPRK is the acronym for the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.