North Korea reports new missile test designed to give enemy ‘incurable headache’
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the test was a demonstration of “ultra-modern” defence technology and showed clear progress in modernisation of its armed forces.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- North Korea successfully tested a new combat weapon system on Sept 20, which leader Kim Jong Un said showed "ultra-modern defence technology" and strengthened war readiness.
- The weapon appears to be an upgraded short-range ballistic missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle, enhancing its ability to evade missile defences.
- The test followed North Korea's criticism of US military drills and coincided with a meeting of South Korea, Japan, and the US foreign ministers discussing peace and denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula.
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SEOUL – North Korea said it successfully tested a new weapon showcasing “ultra-modern defence technology” on Sept 20, overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, who praised progress in strengthening the country’s war readiness, state media KCNA reported on Sept 22.
Kim said the test, conducted by North Korea’s Missile Administration, demonstrated a significant development in the country’s armed forces’ ability to fight and “the enemy will know better what such progress means without any explanation”.
“He affirmed that such reality would give the enemy an incurable headache and a very cruel and unavoidable blow,” Kim was cited as saying.
The report did not elaborate on the specific type of weapon.
Photographs released by KCNA showed Kim, accompanied by his teenage daughter, inspecting a screen displaying a map of the country’s east coast and the “flight trajectory” of Hwasongpho-11-ma-1, which is likely part of a series of short-range ballistic missiles being upgraded by Pyongyang.
NK News, a Seoul-based website specialising in North Korea, said the projectile appeared to be an upgraded variant of a missile equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle.
Mounting a glide vehicle on a missile means the warhead can manoeuvre to evade anti-missile defences and also potentially be launched partially into orbit.
Hypersonic missiles are among a range of weapons that Kim has called for development to upgrade its nuclear capabilities.
The South Korean military said on Sept 20 that North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast.
The test came days after Pyongyang accused the US of driving tensions on the Korean Peninsula through a series of military drills.
On Sept 21, the foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to agree to coordinate closely for peace, stability and denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula, according to Seoul’s foreign ministry. REUTERS