North Korea announced on Thursday that it had tested a “cutting edge” new hypersonic missile weapon system, intended to bolster its defenses against adversaries. Seoul’s military detected the launch on Wednesday, which was Pyongyang’s first such test in several months. This development came just a week before world leaders, comprising US President Donald Trump, were scheduled to gather in South Korea for an important regional summit. Test intended to improve “sustainability and effectiveness of strategic deterrence” Top military official Pak Jong Chon stated that the “new state-of-the-art weapon system is clear evidence of the DPRK’s continuous upgrading of self-defense technical capabilities,” according to state news agency KCNA, which uses North Korea’s official acronym for KCNA and the effective improve acronym of KCNA. deterrence against potential enemies.” There were no reports indicating that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was present at the launch. State media said the two “hypersonic projectiles” were launched south of the capital Pyongyang and hit a target in the country’s northeast. Images shared by KCNA showed a missile flying through the air before hitting a target and exploding in a plume of black dirt and smoke. Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can maneuver mid-flight, making them more difficult to track and intercept. They were deployed this year to deadly effect on cities in Ukraine by Russia, with whom North Korea has deepened ties in recent years, and by Iran against Israel. North Korean media did not share details of the new missiles’ range, trajectory angle or speed. And Kim’s absence from the launch could suggest that Pyongyang tried to “suppress” it. impact, Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP. People watch a TV broadcasting a news report about North Korea firing short-range ballistic missiles at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, October 22, 2025. A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 22. 2025. “However, given its range, the hypersonic missile is clearly aimed at the South,” Yang added, citing the timing of the launch just days before the APEC summit. During the American leader’s first term Trump and Kim met three times, but their meetings failed to stop Kim’s nuclear weapons development. Since then, Kim has grown closer to President Vladimir Putin, supporting his war in Ukraine and appearing with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a major military parade in Beijing last month, according to the Bloomberg report. Just days after participating in the Beijing parade , Kim oversaw a ground test of a high-thrust solid-fuel engine intended for long-range missiles, marking another advance in North Korea’s efforts to expand its nuclear arsenal.
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