North Korea said on Tuesday that its latest missile tested is a new hypersonic missile, with medium range, designed to hit targets in the Pacific.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to expand Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal to counter rival nations.
On Monday, South Korea’s military reported observing North Korea launching a missile that flew 1,100 kilometers before falling into waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
North Korea demonstrated several weapons systems last year that could target its neighbors and the United States. These included intercontinental ballistic missiles powered by solid fuel.
Concerns have risen that the North could further advance its military capabilities through technology provided by Russia, as the two countries have increased their cooperation over the war in Ukraine.
In recent years, North Korea has launched and tested various medium-range missiles that, if perfected, could reach the U.S. military base in Guam. Since 2021, it has tested hypersonic weapons designed to fly at least five times the speed of sound.
The goal of such weapons’ speed and maneuverability is to counter regional missile defense systems. However, it is unclear if these missiles can consistently maintain the speeds North Korea claims.
North Korean state media reported that Kim supervised the missile test on Monday, stating that the missile traveled 1,500 kilometers, reached two different altitudes—99.8 kilometers and 42.5 kilometers—and achieved speeds 12 times the speed of sound before precisely hitting a maritime target.
Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that the South Korean military believes North Korea is exaggerating its hypersonic system’s capabilities, noting that the missile covered a shorter distance and did not achieve a second peak in its trajectory.
According to Lee, this test may have been a continuation of a previous test of a medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile conducted in April. He also questioned the efficiency of such systems in a relatively small region like the Korean Peninsula, adding that South Korean and U.S. forces are continuing to analyze the missile.
Kim Jong Un described the missile as a crucial achievement in his goals to strengthen North Korea’s nuclear defense program by creating an arsenal “that no one can counter,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim reiterated that his insistence on bolstering the nuclear arsenal aims to respond to “various security threats posed by hostile forces.” However, KCNA did not directly criticize Washington, Seoul, or Tokyo.
The missile launch occurred during U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Seoul, where he held talks with South Korean allies on North Korea’s nuclear threat and other issues.
In a press conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Blinken condemned North Korea’s missile launch, emphasizing that this activity violates UN Security Council resolutions against the North’s weapons programs.
He also expressed concern over the growing cooperation between North Korea and Russia in Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Blinken described the military collaboration between Pyongyang and Moscow as a “two-way street,” stating that Russia has provided military equipment and training to the North and plans to offer space and satellite technology.
According to assessments by the U.S., Ukraine, and South Korea, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops and conventional weapons systems to support Moscow’s war campaign.
There are fears that Russia might provide North Korea with advanced weapons technology in return, potentially increasing the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear-armed military.
In a year-end political conference, Kim Jong Un vowed to implement the “harshest” policy against the U.S. and criticized the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen security cooperation with Seoul and Tokyo, which he described as a “nuclear military bloc for aggression.”
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