North Korea boasted about firing a solid-fuel ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic maneuverable warhead on Sunday in the first successful test of the new system, according to state media.
On Monday morning, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the country's military had tested an "intermediate-range hypersonic maneuverable controlled warhead" to verify its "gliding and maneuvering characteristics" and the "reliability of newly developed multi-stage high-thrust solid-fuel engines."
The test was carried out by the General Missile Bureau (GMB) on Sunday afternoon and was the first missile launch by the country this year. According to KCNA, the firing of the missile "never affected the security of any neighboring country and had nothing to do with the regional situation."
The missile, which was reportedly launched from near Pyongyang, fell in waters between North Korea and Japan covering a distance of 621 miles, according to South Korea's military officials. Newsweek called the Permanent Mission of North Korea to the United Nations in New York for comment by phone but did not receive an immediate response.
Solid-fuel missiles are easier to transport and faster to launch, making them generally more dangerous than liquid-fuel missiles.
North Korea first tested its Hwasong-18, the country's first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in April 2023 and then tested two more times in 2023, including on December 18. The one on Sunday would be North Korea's first-ever test of a solid-fuel hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRMB).
The tension that has characterized relations between North Korea and South Korea has grown in recent months and reached a peak last week when Pyongyang staged live-fire exercises near a disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea.
The area used to be a buffer zone under the Comprehensive Military Agreement, which North Korea recently withdrew from. Seoul condemned the firing of cannon rounds in the Yellow Sea as a provocation from Pyongyang.
The firing of the artillery shells followed Kim Jong-un's announcement during a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) on December 30 of a shift in the country's strategy towards South Korea.
In an important speech for the stability of the region, the country's supreme leader said reunification between the two Koreas is no longer possible and South Koreans should no longer be seen as compatriots, but as enemies. The two countries should be viewed instead as two countries at "war."
As a result of Kim's speech, North Korean propaganda outlets have removed every reference to reconciliation with the South and organizations aimed at improving north-south relations have been "readjusted." Relations between North Korea and South Korea are now at the worst they've been in decades.
The same KCNA report confirming the IRMB test on Sunday does not mention the presence of the country's leader Kim Jong Un, who took over the role after his father died in 2011.
The presence of his daughter Kim Ju-ae in recent public events has fueled speculations that she might one day succeed him and continue ensuring the dominance of the family's dynasty over North Korea. The girl, whose age has not been confirmed, is reportedly about 10 years old.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
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