[Anchor]
North Korea has released photos claiming it conducted a test launch of an intermediate-range hypersonic missile. While it is analyzed as capable of putting the U.S. territory of Guam within its striking range, North Korea made no mention of responsibility for the landmine explosion incident.
Choi Jae-yeong reports.
[Reporter]
North Korea released photos of what it described as an "intermediate-range strategic missile" launched two days ago on October 3, showing General Secretary Kim Jong-un observing alongside his wife Ri Sol-ju and daughter Kim Ju-ae.
The warhead has a pointed, conical shape, and North Korea stated that it conducted a "drill of a hypersonic strategic weapons system."
On a monitor in the photos, the distinctive flight trajectory of a hypersonic missile can be faintly identified.
It appears to pull up in altitude again during its descent phase and glide for a certain distance.
[Korean Central Television: Such activities are clearly aimed at further upgrading the country's nuclear war deterrence.]
The booster is presumed to be the Hwasong-16B (Hwasong-16Na). Although North Korea stated that the flight distance of this launch was 1,000 kilometers, experts assess that its range could reach 3,000 kilometers on a standard trajectory.
This means it could strike not only Japan but also the U.S. territory of Guam.
North Korea also launched a missile presumed to be a short-range hypersonic missile on September 20, appearing to show off that it is systematizing its hypersonic missiles across different range categories.
[Shin Jong-woo / Secretary General of Korea Defense and Security Forum: The short-range hypersonic missile, named Hwasong-11Ma, targets the Korean Peninsula, while the conical hypersonic missile revealed today is an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of striking not only U.S. military bases in Japan but also Guam....]
Notably, North Korea conducted this missile test capable of threatening the U.S. territory of Guam the very next day after rejecting South Korea's call for an apology and dialogue regarding the landmine explosion incident.
[Hong Min / Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification: Regardless of South Korea's demand for corresponding measures concerning the landmine explosion, North Korea sent a comprehensive message that it will move forward with strengthening its deterrence under its self-declared nuclear-armed status.]
The South Korean military stated that it is fully capable of detecting and intercepting North Korean missiles using combined South Korea-U.S. defense assets.
(Video by Choi Jin-hwa | Graphics by Kim Han-gil)
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