The new missile, using former Soviet Union's technologies of the 1960s, is estimated to have a range of about 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles), the Asahi Shimbun daily reported, citing unnamed government sources from Japan and South Korea.

After studying satellite photographs of a major military parade on April 25 attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, the United States concluded there was a newly developed missile and told the governments of Japan and South Korea about it, the report said.

Although no test-launch of the new missile has been confirmed, the Pacific island of Guam, an unincorporated US territory, is presumably within range of the missile, it said.

North Korea tested seven ballistic missiles last July, sparking international alarm and United Nations sanctions.

A nuclear test last October further heightened tensions. In February the communist state agreed to scrap its nuclear programme as part of a six-nation deal, but the agreement is in limbo amid a row over US financial sanctions.

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