North Korean state media said Thursday that Pyongyang tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as leader Kim Jong Un ordered the hermit nation to prepare for a “long-term confrontation” with the United States. The Hwasong-17 was fired from Pyongyang International Airport on March 24 and flew 681 miles (1,090 kilometers) to a maximum altitude of 3,905 miles (6,248.5 kilometers) before hitting a target in the sea, state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The Hwasong-17 is North Korea’s biggest missile, which experts described as a “monster missile” capable of striking anywhere in the United States and beyond. KCNA claimed that Kim aims to strengthen nuclear war deterrent to counter the “daily-escalating military tension of the Korean Peninsula” and the “inevitability of the long-term confrontation with the U.S. imperialists accompanied by nuclear war threat.” The news agency quoted Kim as saying: “It is necessary to make clear …