Washington (CNN) The US military has begun referring to the North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile launched Tuesday as a "KN 22" -- a new designation signaling that the US is increasingly seeing the recent launch as involving a new type of ICBM, according to two US defense officials. North Korea has said that that Tuesday's test involved a new type of ICBM -- designated the Hwasong-15. This Nov. 29, 2017, image provided by the North Korean government on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, shows what the North Korean government calls the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)The country's state media made the announcement Wednesday, hours after leader Kim Jong Un ordered the 3 a.m. local time launch of the Hwasong-15 missile , which reached the highest altitude ever recorded by a North Korean missile.

Source: CNN November 30, 2017 17:20 UTC