North Korea launched a "newly developed, new-type tactical-guided projectile" on Thursday, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.
The US condemned the launches and spoke of a threat to international peace and security.
The launches, the country's first ballistic missile tests in about a year, underscored steady progress in its weapons programme amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the US.
President Joe Biden said on Thursday the US was open to diplomacy with North Korea despite its missile tests this week, but said there would be responses if North Korea escalates matters.
The State Department later condemned the ballistic missile launches as destabilising. "These launches violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions and threaten the region and the broader international community," a State Department spokesman said.
The new weapon is based on existing technology that was improved to carry a 2.5-tonne warhead, KCNA reported.
KCNA said the two weapons struck a target 600 kilometres off North Korea's east coast, which conflicts with estimates by South Korean and Japanese authorities who said the missiles flew about 420-450km.
"The development of this weapon system is of great significance in bolstering the military power of the country and deterring all sorts of military threats," said Ri Pyong-chol, the senior leader who oversaw the test, KCNA reported.
Photos released by state media show a black-and-white-painted missile blasting off from a military launch vehicle.
Missile specialists at the California-based James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies said it appeared to be a missile that was unveiled at a major military parade in Pyongyang in October.
If it is, then Thursday's missiles were probably an improved and stretched variant of the previously tested KN-23 missile with "a really big warhead," the centre's Jeffrey Lewis said.
The KN-23 is a North Korean short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) first tested in May 2019, visually similar to Russia's Iskander-M SRBM, prompting analysts to debate whether it was developed with foreign help.
The new missile's 2.5-tonne warhead may be a response to South Korea's announcement in August that its latest Hyunmoo-4 SRBM had "the largest payload in the world" at two tonnes, Mr Lewis said.
The SRBMs developed by North Korea are designed to defeat missile defences and conduct a precision strike in South Korea, analysts say.
KCNA said Thursday's test confirmed the missile's capability to conduct "low-altitude gliding leap-type flight mode", a feature that makes such weapons harder to detect and shoot down.
KCNA's report suggested North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the launch, and undated state media photos published on Friday showed him inspecting new passenger buses in Pyongyang.
Mr Kim has vowed to improve living conditions for citizens as North Korea's economy is ravaged by numerous crises, including international sanctions over the missile and nuclear weapons programmes, natural disasters and a crushing self-imposed border lockdown – an effort to prevent a coronavirus outbreak – that slowed trade to a trickle.
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
