North Korea on Monday said it flight-tested a new solid-fuel intermediate-range missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead as it pursues more powerful, harder-to-detect weapons designed to strike remote U.S. targets in the region.
The report by North Korea’s state media came a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected the launch from a site near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, in what was the North’s first ballistic test of 2024.
The launch came two months after North Korea said it successfully tested engines for a new solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile, which reflected a push to advance its lineup of weapons targeting U.S. military bases in Guam and Japan.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The launch came two months after North Korea said it successfully tested engines for a new solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile, which reflected a push to advance its lineup of weapons targeting U.S. military bases in Guam and Japan.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday’s launch was aimed at verifying the reliability of the missile’s solid-fuel engines and the maneuverable flight capabilities of the hypersonic warhead, which the report implied was an upgraded version of previous vehicles designed to perform intermediate-range strikes.
It didn’t mention whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended the test, which it said was part of the country’s regular weapons development activities and did not affect the security of neighbors.
But the country is more likely to launch the new solid-fuel missile at a normal ballistic trajectory when testing it with a hypersonic warhead in the future, to verify the vehicle’s ability to glide and maneuver at desired speeds following separation from the booster, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military was analyzing the North’s latest test but declined to elaborate.
The U.S. and South Korean governments have claimed that North Korea has been providing Russia with arms supplies, including artillery and missiles, to help prolong its invasion of Ukraine.
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