On Thursday, North Korea announced that it has successfully tested a “cutting-edge” new weapon system that uses hypersonic missiles to strengthen its defenses against its enemies.
The launch was Pyongyang’s first of its kind in months, and Seoul’s military detected it on Wednesday.
It happened one week prior to a significant regional conference in South Korea, which is expected to bring together international leaders, including US President Donald Trump.
Using North Korea’s official name, state news agency KCNA reported that top military official Pak Jong Chon claimed the “new cutting-edge weapon system is a clear proof of steadily upgrading self-defensive technical capabilities of the DPRK.”
KCNA said the test was aimed at enhancing the “sustainability and effectiveness of strategic deterrence against potential enemies”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was not reported to have attended the launch.
State media said the two “hypersonic projectiles” had been launched south of the capital Pyongyang and had hit a target in the country’s northeast.
Images shared by KCNA showed a missile flying through the air, before hitting a target and exploding in a hail of black dirt and smoke.
Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.
Iran has used them against Israel this year, and Russia, with whom North Korea has forged closer connections in recent years, has used them to terrible effect on Ukrainian cities.
The speed, trajectory angle, and range of the new missiles were not disclosed by North Korean media.
Furthermore, Yang Moo-jin, a former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP that Kim’s absence from the launch would suggest Pyongyang was attempting to “tone down” its significance.
“However, given its range, the hypersonic missile is clearly aimed at the South,” added Yang, noting the timing of the launch just days before the APEC summit.
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