North Korea has declared its launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile a success, and hailed the Hwasong-17 as the "strongest strategic weapon in the world."

State-run television reported on Saturday that the Hwasong-17 was test-fired Friday from an airport near Pyongyang.

The report said the missile reached an altitude of 6,040.9 kilometers. It said the missile flew for one hour, eight minutes, and 55 seconds over a distance of 999.2 kilometers before splashing down in a targeted area in the high seas east of the Korean Peninsula. It said the test-firing clearly proved the missile's "powerful combat performance."

The Hwasong-17 is the largest ballistic missile in North Korea's arsenal. Its range of more than 15,000 kilometers can reach the continental United States.

A photo of the missile shows it taking off from a 22-wheeled mobile launch pad, spewing flames through its four nozzles.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who oversaw the launch, has indicated his determination to press forward with nuclear and missile development.

He said, "The recent dangerous situation in which the US and other hostile forces' military threats get ever more undisguised around the DPRK more urgently requires it to substantially accelerate the bolstering of its overwhelming nuclear deterrence."