Like all such launches, the test took place in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. Pyongyang's press release, issued a day later, indicated that the missile - the Pukguksong-2 - was of the same type as one test-fired from a submarine off the east coast in August 2016.
Unlike North Korea's other long-range land-based missiles, the system tested on 12 February used solid fuel. Until now, the country's comparable land-based missile systems have been liquid-fuelled.
Pyongyang also announced that the launch vehicle carrying the new missile is indigenously made and uses a continuous or "caterpillar" track, rather than wheels with tyres.
Previously North Korea has imported and modified foreign-made trucks to transport and launch its missiles. A domestic manufacturing capability will negate the need to convince or fool foreign suppliers into selling these vehicles. Continuous track also suggests that North Korea's intention may be to take the missiles off-road, making it more difficult to detect imminent launches.
Missiles using liquid fuel require greater preparation time than those using solid fuel. They also require a larger constellation of support vehicles to accompany each launch vehicle. Both of these considerations make it more likely that an enemy might detect the missile in time to conduct a pre-emptive strike.
Solid fuel substantially reduces this vulnerability. North Korea will be able to roll these systems out of concealed storage and launch them with minimal preparation, drastically shrinking the time that an adversary would have to find and kill the missile. The capability thus represents a major step forward for North Korea.
There are two ways to launch missiles from their supporting vehicle's canister.
In "hot" launches, the missile's engines propel it upward out of the canister, while in "cold" launches, the missile is ejected from the canister using compressed gas before its engines ignite.
A cold eject approach spares the launch vehicle from damage from the missile's ignition, making it possible to reload it and reuse.
Kim Jong-un has hit the gas pedal on North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.
In the past 13 months he has conducted two nuclear tests and launched over 20 ballistic missiles, including from a submarine. The demonstration of a long-range, solid-fuelled, land-based system is a continuation of this disturbing trend and one of the first significant foreign policy challenges that US President Donald Trump will be forced to grapple with.

The girls, aged 13 and 14, were charged with the murder of Angela Wrightson, 39, whose body was discovered at her home in Stephen Street on Tuesday.
They appeared separately, with the younger girl wiping away a tear and the older one weeping throughout.
No pleas were entered and both were remanded to youth custody, with a preliminary hearing on 18 December.
One of the girls' mothers wept as they appeared at an earlier hearing at Teesside Youth Court.
The 13-year-old's parents were present at the hearing, with her mother sobbing throughout, and the older girl was watched by her father.
At the crown court, no wigs were worm by the judge or prosecution and defence barristers due to the age of the defendants.
A post-mortem examination found Ms Wrightson died as a result of blood loss and substantial injuries.
On the morning of 12 February, North Korea conducted a ballistic missile test launch from Banghyon air base near the west coast of the country.
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Two teenage girls accused of murdering a woman in Hartlepool have appeared at Teesside Crown Court.