North Korea says it tested hypersonic intermediate range missile

North Korea said its latest weapons test was a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to strike remote targets in the Pacific as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further expand his collection of nuclear-capable weapons to counter rival nations.

The North Korean state media report came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected North Korea launching a missile that flew 685 miles before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The launch, conducted weeks before Donald Trump returns as US president, came off a torrid year in weapons testing.

North Korea demonstrated multiple weapons systems last year that can target its neighbours and the United States, including solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, and there are concerns that its military capabilities could advance further through technology transfers from Russia, as the two countries align over the war in Ukraine.

North Korea in recent years has flight-tested various intermediate-range missiles, which if perfected, could reach the US Pacific military hub of Guam.

In recent months, North has been testing combining these missiles with purported hypersonic warheads to improve their survivability.

North Korea since 2021 has been testing various hypersonic weapons designed to fly at more than five times the speed of sound.

The speed and manoeuvrability of such weapons aim to withstand regional missile defence systems.

However, it’s unclear whether these missiles are consistently flying at the speeds the North claims.

South Korea’s military did not immediately comment on the North Korean assessment.

The North’s state media said Kim supervised Monday’s launch, and that the weapon travelled 932 miles), during which it reached two different peaks of 62 miles and 26.4 miles and achieved a speed amounting to 12 times the speed of sound, before accurately striking a sea target.

Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the South Korean military believes North Korea was exaggerating the capabilities of the system, saying the missile covered less distance and that there was no second peak.

Mr Lee said the test was likely a follow-up to another hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile test last April and said it would be difficult to use such systems in a relatively small territory like the Korean Peninsula.

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

“The hypersonic missile system will reliably contain any rivals in the Pacific region that can affect the security of our state,” the agency quoted Mr Kim as saying.

Mr Kim reiterated that his nuclear push was aimed at countering “different security threats the hostile forces posed to our state,” but KCNA did not mention any direct criticism toward Washington, Seoul or Tokyo.

The launch took place while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean allies over the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.

In a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul on Monday, Mr Blinken condemned North Korea’s launch, which violated UN Security Council resolutions against the North’s weapons programs.

At a year-end political conference, Mr Kim vowed to implement the “toughest” anti-US policy and criticised the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen security cooperation with Seoul and Tokyo, which he described as a “nuclear military bloc for aggression.”

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

During his first term as president, Mr Trump met Kim three times for talks on the North’s nuclear program.