North Korea has successfully tested a newly developed hypersonic missile – the country’s state media reports.
Hypersonic weapons are a necessity “to deal with the various security threats currently posed by the hostile forces against our state”, according to the country’s leader Kim Jong-un.
The state-run KCNA news agency, which still uses http protocol, reports that a test firing of a new type of medium-range hypersonic missile was conducted at the beginning of the week.
– Just like the intentional purpose of all military powers, the development of new-type hypersonic missile is mainly aimed to steadily put the country’s nuclear war deterrent on an advanced basis by making the means of changing the war situation, the weapon system to which no one can respond, the linchpin of strategic deterrence, the leader himself states.
– This is clearly a plan and effort for self-defense, not an offensive plan and action, he adds.
Wants to become a “military power”
According to the state news agency, the new missile was fired in a northeasterly direction from a suburb of Pyongyang and hit a simulated target on the high seas about 1.500 kilometers away. The missile reached a peak altitude of 99.8 kilometers and a second peak of 42.5 kilometers, indicating that it can change course mid-flight rather than following a fixed ballistic trajectory.
– The performance of our latest intermediate-range hypersonic missile system can not be ignored worldwide, and the system can deal a serious military strike to a rival while effectively breaking any dense defensive barrier, Jong-un continued.
North Korea’s new-type Intermediate-range Hypersonic Ballistic Missile exceeds speed of sound by 12 times launched on January 6, and accurately landed on the simulated target waters in the open sea 1 500 kilometres away. pic.twitter.com/IK494NtlCr
— Lokman Karadag 盧克曼 (@DrLokmanKaradag) January 7, 2025
– The development of the defense capabilities of the DPRK aiming to be a military power will be further accelerated, he concludes.
