Japan's Defense Ministry is looking into the possibility that the missile launched by North Korea on Wednesday may have been a new type of solid-fuel missile.

The ministry says the projectile was intercontinental ballistic missile-class. It estimates that the missile landed in the Sea of Japan about 250 kilometers west of Hokkaido's Okushiri Island. The point is outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The ministry also estimates that the missile traveled a distance of about 1,000 kilometers and reached as high as more than 6,000 kilometers. It adds that the projectile flew for about 74 minutes, a record for a North Korean ballistic missile.

Ministry officials say that depending on the weight of the warhead and other conditions, the missile may have a range of over 15,000 kilometers, covering the whole of the United States.

It is the first time since April 13 that the North has fired an ICBM-class missile. The country has said it was the first test launch of a new type of solid-fuel ICBM, the Hwasong-18.

It is difficult to detect signs of a launch of that type beforehand, compared with a liquid-fuel missile.

Japan's Defense Ministry is conducting a detailed analysis of the missile launched on Wednesday by studying its flight distance, altitude and other factors.