North Korea Launches Hypersonic Missile

North Korea said Wednesday it successfully tested a new hypersonic missile it implied was being developed as nuclear capable, as it continues to expand its military capabilities and pressure Washington and Seoul over long-stalled negotiations over its nuclear weapons. The missile test early Tuesday was North Korea's third round of launches this month and took place shortly before North Korea’s UN envoy accused the United States of hostility and demanded the Biden administration permanently end joint military exercises with South Korea and the deployment of strategic assets in the region. A photo published in North Korea's state media showed a missile mounted with a finned, cone-shaped payload soaring into the air amid bright orange flames, the AP reports. The official Korean Central News Agency said the missile during its first flight test met key technical requirements, including launch stability and the maneuverability and flight characteristics of the “detached hypersonic gliding warhead.”

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff assessed the missile to be at an early stage of development and said North Korea would need “considerable time” to be able to deploy it operationally. The North’s announcement came a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries said they detected North Korea firing a missile into its eastern sea. The US Indo-Pacific Command said the launch highlighted “the destabilizing impact of (North Korea’s) illicit weapons program.” At a ruling party meeting in January, leader Kim Jong Un named hypersonic glide vehicles, which are launched from a rocket before gliding into a target, among a wish-list of sophisticated military assets. KCNA described the new missile as an important addition to the country’s “strategic” weaponry, implying that the system is being developed to deliver nuclear weapons.

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