North Korea has test-fired what it called a new type of “long-range cruise missile” over the weekend, the country’s state Korean Central News Agency reported early Monday, amid a long standoff with the United States over denuclearization.

The test launches, which took place on both Saturday and Sunday, were observed by high-level officials, KCNA said, adding that the tests had been carried out “successfully”.

The missiles traveled for 7,580 seconds along “oval and pattern-8 flight orbits” above North Korea and its territorial waters, and hit targets 1,500 kilometres (about 930 miles) away, KCNA said.

The report called the missile a “strategic weapon of great significance”, adding that “in all, the efficiency and practicality of the weapon system operation was confirmed to be excellent”.