North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally supervised the successful test of a hypersonic missile, the second such test by Pyongyang in less than a week, North State media reported on Wednesday. Korean.
On Tuesday, the missile carrying a “hypersonic planing warhead” hit a “target at sea 1000 km away,” KCNA said, adding that the test confirmed “the excellent maneuverability of the hypersonic combat unit”.
Photos posted on the website of Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, shows the firing of the missile at dawn as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looks on, surrounded by men in military uniform.
According to the KCNA report, the hypersonic vehicle “performed a glide flight from an area of 600 km before performing a spin flight for 240 km”. Hypersonic missiles typically reach Mach 5, which is five times the speed of sound, or even more. They are faster and more maneuverable than standard missiles, making them more difficult to intercept for defense systems, on which the United States spends billions of dollars.
Proof of progress
This is North Korea’s third test of a hypersonic hover missile, following that of September 2021 and last week, as the country seeks to add the sophisticated weapon to its arsenal.
About that:
North Korea fires unidentified projectile, Seoul says
“Kim Jong-un’s presence on trial suggests that the hypersonic missile has reached a satisfactory level of completion,” said Lim Eul-chul, professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University in Seoul.
The South Korean defense estimated that the shot had reached hypersonic speed and clearly demonstrated “progress” over that of last week.
Since Kim Jong-un came to power ten years ago, North Korea has rapidly advanced its military technology. Hypersonic missiles are among the “top priorities” of North Korea’s five-year plan, state media reported last year.
Shooting condemned by the international community
The projectile was fired during a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Pyongyang’s weapons programs. Six countries, including the United States and Japan, urged North Korea to stop its “destabilizing actions” ahead of a closed meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the shooting last week , of a hypersonic missile by Pyongyang.
According to experts, Pyongyang may have intentionally coincided its shooting with the UN meeting. “The launch has political and military motives,” Shin Beom-chul, a researcher at the Korea National Strategy Research Institute, told AFP. “North Korea is continuing its trials to diversify its nuclear arsenal, but it planned the firing on the day of the UN Security Council meeting to maximize its political impact.”
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the launch “violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions.”
On the subject: North Korea: Kim Jong-un rejects US offer of dialogue
Tuesday’s essay comes as Pyongyang refused to respond to US calls for talks. The dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington remains at an impasse after the failure in 2019 of talks between Kim Jong-un and then US President Donald Trump.
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