North Korea tests intermediate-range hypersonic missile on Saturday

Kim watches launch with daughter Ju-ae

Leader says strike capabilities must be demonstrated 'repeatedly' to adversaries

North Korea conducted an intermediate-range strategic missile launch drill from its eastern region toward the Donghae on Saturday, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, KCNA reported Sunday. [Yonhap]
North Korea conducted an intermediate-range strategic missile launch drill from its eastern region toward the Donghae on Saturday, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, KCNA reported Sunday. [Yonhap]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, watching alongside his daughter Ju-ae, said after observing a test launch of an intermediate-range hypersonic missile that "building a powerful nuclear deterrent is the most important measure for guaranteeing the security of the state."

According to KCNA on Sunday, North Korea conducted an intermediate-range strategic missile launch drill from its eastern region toward the Donghae in the early hours of Saturday. The agency said the drill was part of an effort "to sharpen the fire-service capabilities of missile troops handling hypersonic strategic weapons systems and to evaluate the reliability, effectiveness and operational readiness of the war deterrent."

KCNA said the missile was fired in a northeast direction and "accurately hit the preset target point at latitude 43°36′28.04″ and longitude 138°00′47.02″, 1,000 km away in the Donghae."

Kim attended the launch alongside Kim Jong-sik, first vice director of the Korean Workers' Party's munitions industry department, and Jang Chang-ha, director of the Missile General Bureau. Kim's daughter Ju-ae and his wife Ri Sol-ju were also reported to have watched the drill.

Kim said that "demonstrating the readiness of our military's retaliatory means at all times and building a powerful and reliable nuclear deterrent is a very important measure and a responsible activity for national security."

He praised the troops, saying they "showed outstanding professional qualities in operating key offensive weapons systems and demonstrated a retaliatory posture ready for mobilization at any time," adding that they had "provided confidence in our deterrent."

Kim Jong-un and his daughter Ju-ae watch the intermediate-range strategic missile launch. [Yonhap]
Kim Jong-un and his daughter Ju-ae watch the intermediate-range strategic missile launch. [Yonhap]

Kim also said the North must "continuously and repeatedly make adversaries recognize the reliability and lethality of our strategic offensive means without interruption," calling it "one form of exercising deterrence."

He added that "such activities are clearly aimed at further advancing the country's nuclear war deterrent — something essential to defending the safety and stability of the state in today's geopolitical environment."

KCNA also released photographs of the missile soaring into the sky amid flames. The missile bore the number "17701922" alongside the North Korean flag.

Additional photos showed Kim and his daughter Ju-ae from behind as they watched the launch, as well as Kim's family and military officials smiling broadly. A monitor displaying the missile's flight trajectory was also visible behind Ju-ae.

The missile North Korea launched is believed to be the cone-shaped hypersonic missile it first test-fired in 2022, and is thought to use a solid-fuel single-stage booster.

Shin Jong-woo, secretary general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said the booster and launch vehicle "appear to be the same as those of the Hwaseong-16B, an intermediate-range ballistic missile known for its irregular maneuvering," adding that North Korea appeared to have "mounted a cone-shaped hypersonic warhead on the solid-fuel booster of the Hwaseong-16B."

Shin said the missile "uses an intermediate-range single-stage booster with a range of around 3,000 km, which leads us to assess it as an intermediate-range weapon designed to penetrate Guam's ballistic missile defense systems."

Earlier, North Korea conducted two test launches of a ballistic missile with a cone-shaped warhead six days apart in January 2022, claiming it had successfully developed a new type of missile harder to detect and intercept than conventional ballistic missiles.


carrier@heraldcorp.com