North Korea Successfully Launched A Hypersonic Missile: It Travel 10 Times Faster Than The Speed Sound

On Tuesday, a suspected ballistic missile which more advanced than the missile before launched by North Korea. The advanced projectile launched from Jangang province near the North Korean border with China, then landed in the ocean between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. “Our military detected a suspected ballistic missile fired by North Korea from land towards the East Sea at around 7.27 am (22:27 GMT on Monday) today,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

Many experts assumed that it was the hypersonic missiles. It is because the projectiles were listed among the “top priority” tasks for strategic weapons in its current five-year plan. The first announced test of the hypersonic missile was in September last year.

According to South Korea and the US assessment, the projectile reaches a velocity of more than 10 times the speed of sound and travels more than 700 kilometers (435 miles). The latest information showed that the projectile is more advanced than the latest test conducted by Pyongyang. Although Seoul and Washington assumed that the projectile was a ballistic missile, North Korean claimed it was a hypersonic missile.

But the South Korean government argues that they able to detect what kind of projectile North Korea has launched. “Our military has the ability to detect and intercept this projectile, and we are continuously strengthening our response system.” said the statement. Both Seoul and Washington expressed strong regret over the launch which violates U.N. Security Council’s resolutions. A statement from US Forces Korea said the test posed no threat to the US or South Korean territory or military personnel, but “the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of (North Korea’s) illicit weapons program.”

On the next day, Pyongyang claims a successful test of a hypersonic missile which attended by Kim Jong Un. He claimed would remarkably increase the country’s nuclear “war deterrent.”. Pyongyang had likely planned the latest launch to coincide with the UN meeting “to maximize its political impact,” said Shin Beom-chul, a researcher at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. The attendance of Kim was the first time since March 2020 based on the North Korean state media. He described it as the most significant part of a new five-year plan announced in early 2021 to build up the North’s military force.