Reports: NK successfully tested second hypersonic missile in 2022
North Korea tests the second test of a hypersonic missile, which can avoid detection for longer than ballistic missiles.
The test comes as its leader Kim Jong-un had earlier vowed to bolster Pyongyang’s defenses.
Mr Kim said in a New Year’s speech that Pyongyang would continue to strengthen its defense capabilities due to an increasingly unstable military environment on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea tested a variety of missiles last year amid stalled talks with the South and US.
Pyongyang joins a small number of countries, including the United States and China, in an attempt to develop hypersonic missiles.
The latest launch was first detected by the Japanese coast guard early on Wednesday, before being confirmed by defense authorities in Seoul.
In Wednesday’s test, the “hypersonic gliding warhead” detached from its rocket booster and maneuvered 120 km (75 miles) laterally before it “precisely hit” a target 700 km (430 miles) away.
It said the test also confirmed components such as flight control and its ability to operate in the winter.
Hypersonic weapons usually fly towards targets at lower altitudes than ballistic missiles and can achieve more than five times the speed of sound – or about 6,200 km per hour (3,850 miles per hour).
Defense expert from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Ankit Panda told news wire Reuters the recently-launched missile is not the exact same hypersonic missile that was tested last September – the Hwasong-8 – but that it does share a few similar features.
The new missile was first debuted at a defense exhibition in Pyongyang in October 2021.
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