North Korea’s Kim Jong UN has issued a major warning to his “rivals” after firing a new hypersonic missile system 932 miles.
The country’s leader said Monday’s launch “clearly showed the rivals what we are doing and that we are fully ready to use even any means to defend our legitimate interests”, state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday.
He said the new missile system, which was tested while US secretary of state Antony Blinken was visiting South Korea on Monday, would “reliably contain any rivals in the Pacific region”.
North Korea is claiming the missile was fired from a suburb in the capital Pyongyang and flew 932 miles at about 12 times the speed of sound, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Tuesday.
It attained two different peaks of 99.8km and 42.5km before striking a sea target.
However, South Korea’s military claims the missile flew 683 miles before it splashed down in the sea, adding that it “strongly condemns” this “clear act of provocation”.
Kim Jong Un, who oversaw the test through a monitoring system, said. “The performance of our latest intermediate hypersonic missile system cannot be ignored worldwide, and the system can deal a serious military strike to a rival while effectively breaking any dense defensive barrier.
“This is a clear achievement and a special event in strengthening the self-defensive capabilities of which we should be proud.”
Images released by KCNA showed the country’s leader observing the launch with his teenage daughter Ju Ae at an undisclosed location.
The location of the test site was also undisclosed, but images showed the missile launching from a remote piece of land.
Hypersonic missiles can be detected by space-based sensors. Various reports suggest there is existing technology that can intercept hypersonic missiles despite their unpredictable trajectories.
It sends a clear message to the Trump administration, suggesting that in order to engage in dialogue, North Korea’s strategic position must be acknowledged,” Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.
Whilst in Seoul Mr Blinken condemned North Korea’s first missile launch of 2025.
“Today’s launch is just a reminder to all of us of how important our collaborative work is,” the secretary said.
During his visit, he met with South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok, where he described the alliance between Washington and Seoul as a “cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula”.
