North Korea is proud of its successful test of a medium-range hypersonic missile

North Korea said on Tuesday that its latest weapons test was a new medium-range hypersonic missile designed to strike remote targets in the Pacific, as leader Kim Jong Un pledged to continue expanding his array of nuclear-capable weapons to confront… Competing countries.

The North Korean state media report came a day after the South Korean military announced that it had detected North Korea launching a missile that flew 1,100 kilometers before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The launch came weeks before Donald Trump returns as President of the United States, after a busy year of weapons tests.

North Korea demonstrated multiple weapons systems last year that could target its neighbors and the United States, including solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles, and there are concerns that its military capabilities could be advanced further through technology transfers from Russia, as the two countries agree to war. In Ukraine.

In recent years, North Korea has conducted air tests of various medium-range missiles, which, if perfected, could reach the US military center on the Pacific island of Guam. In recent months, North Korea has been testing combining these missiles with hypersonic warheads to improve their survivability.

Since 2021, North Korea has been testing various hypersonic weapons designed to fly at more than five times the speed of sound. The speed and maneuverability of these weapons are intended to counter regional missile defense systems. However, it is unclear whether these missiles are constantly flying as fast as North Korea claims.

North Korean official media said that Kim supervised the launch on Monday, and that the weapon traveled a distance of 1,500 kilometers, during which it reached two different peaks, 99.8 kilometers and 42.5 kilometers, and achieved a speed of up to 12 times the speed of sound, before accurately hitting a sea target. .

Lee Sung-joon, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the South Korean military believes North Korea is exaggerating the system’s capabilities, saying the missile covered a shorter distance and that there was no second peak.

Lee said the test was likely a follow-up to another test of a medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile last April, and said it would be difficult to use such systems in a relatively small area like the Korean Peninsula. He added that the South Korean and American militaries are continuing to analyze the missile.

The launch comes on the heels of Blinken’s visit

Kim described the missile as a crucial achievement in his goals of strengthening North Korea’s nuclear deterrence by building an arsenal “that no one can respond to,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

“The hypersonic missile system will reliably contain any competitors in the Pacific region that could affect the security of our nation,” the agency quoted Kim as saying.

Kim reiterated that his nuclear campaign aims to confront “various security threats posed by forces hostile to our state,” but KCNA did not mention any direct criticism of Washington, Seoul or Tokyo.

The missile was launched while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korea’s allies on the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.

In a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul on Monday, Blinken condemned North Korea’s missile launch, which violates UN Security Council resolutions against the North’s weapons programs. He also reiterated concerns about the growing alliance between North Korea and Russia in Moscow’s war on Ukraine. He described military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow as a “two-way street,” saying Russia is providing military equipment and training to the North and “intends to share space and satellite technology.”

According to US, Ukrainian and South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 soldiers and conventional weapons systems to support Moscow’s war campaign. There are fears that Russia would transfer advanced weapons technology to North Korea in return, which could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear-armed army.

At a political conference at the end of the year, Kim Jong Un pledged to implement the “toughest” 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 of aggression.”

North Korean state media did not specify Kim’s policy plans and did not mention any specific comments about Trump.

During his first term as president, Trump and Kim They exchanged a series of aggressive threats After the North Korean weapons tests, he accepted to meet in person three times for talks that did not appear to significantly change the relationship between the two countries.

Even after Trump returns to the White House, a rapid resumption of diplomacy with North Korea may be unlikely. Experts say Kim’s strengthened posture – built on his expanded nuclear arsenal, deepening alliance with Russia and weak enforcement of US international sanctions – presents new challenges to resolving the nuclear crisis.