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North Korea said on Tuesday its latest weapons test was a new medium-range hypersonic missile designed to hit distant targets in the Pacific as leader Kim Jong-un vowed to further expand his nuclear arsenal to counter rival nations.
The North Korean state media report came a day after South Korea’s military said it had detected that North Korea had launched a missile that traveled 1,100 kilometers before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The launch, carried out weeks before Donald Trump’s return as US president, came after a tumultuous year of weapons testing.
North Korea last year demonstrated multiple weapons systems that can target its neighbors and the United States, including solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, and there are concerns that its military capabilities could be further advanced by technology transfers from Russia as the two countries coordinate over a war in Ukraine.
North Korea has tested a variety of medium-range missiles in recent years, which, if perfected, could reach the US Pacific military center of Guam. In recent months, North Korea has tested combining these missiles with alleged hypersonic warheads to improve their survivability.
Since 2021, North Korea has been testing a variety of hypersonic weapons designed to fly more than five times the speed of sound. The speed and maneuverability of such weapons are intended to withstand regional missile defense systems. However, it is not clear whether these missiles are consistently flying at the speed claimed by the North.
The North’s state media said Kim oversaw Monday’s launch and that the weapon traveled 1,500 kilometers, during which it reached two distinct peaks of 99.8 kilometers and 42.5 kilometers and reached 12 times the speed of sound, before precisely hit the sea target.
Lee Sung Joon, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the South Korean military believed North Korea had exaggerated the system’s capabilities, saying the missile traveled a short distance and there was no second tip.
Lee said the test was likely a follow-up to another hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile test last April and said it would be difficult to use such systems in a relatively small territory such as the Korean Peninsula. He said the South Korean and US militaries were continuing to analyze the missile.
The launch comes after a visit from Blinken
Kim described the missile as a key achievement in his goals to bolster the North’s nuclear deterrent by building an arsenal “that no one can answer,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
“The hypersonic missile system will reliably contain all rivals in the Pacific region who can affect the security of our country,” the agency quoted Kim as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is in North Korea for a rare visit and meeting with leader Kim Jong Un, raising concerns in the West about military cooperation between the two countries.
Kim reiterated that his nuclear strike was aimed at countering “various security threats posed by hostile forces to our country,” but KCNA did not mention any direct criticism of Washington, Seoul or Tokyo.
The launch occurred while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean allies about the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.
At a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul on Monday, Blinken condemned the North Korean launch, which violated UN Security Council resolutions against the North’s weapons program. He also reiterated concerns about the growing alignment of North Korea and Russia in Moscow’s war against Ukraine. He described military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow as a “two-way street”, saying Russia provides military equipment and training to the North and “intends to share space and satellite technology”.
According to US, Ukrainian and South Korean estimates, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops and conventional weapons systems in support of Moscow’s war campaign. There are concerns that Russia could in turn transfer advanced weapons technology to North Korea, potentially increasing the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear military.
At a policy conference at the end of the year, Kim Jong-un vowed to implement the “hardest” anti-American policy 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.”
North Korean state media did not specify Kim’s political plans or mention any specific comments about Trump.
During his first term as president, Trump and Kim exchanged a series of belligerent threats after North Korea’s weapons tests, before meeting in person three times for talks that didn’t appear to significantly change the relationship between the countries.
Even after Trump returns to the White House, a quick resumption of diplomacy with North Korea may be unlikely. Kim’s strengthened position — built on his expanding nuclear arsenal, deepening alliance with Russia and weakening U.S. enforcement of international sanctions — presents new challenges to resolving the nuclear standoff, experts say.
