North Korea Claims Launch of Intermediate-Range Strategic Missile, Says Enemies "Lost Target"

[Anchor]

North Korea announced that its ballistic missile fired into the East Sea this morning (October 3) was a launch drill for an intermediate-range strategic missile. It mocked the military authorities of South Korea and Japan—who estimated the missile's flight distance at around 700 kilometers—claiming they failed to track the target to the end.

Defense Correspondent Kim Tae-hoon reports.

[Reporter]

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that a single ballistic missile was detected being launched toward the East Sea from the Wonsan area in Gangwon Province at around 6:30 a.m. today, with a flight distance reaching 700 kilometers.

The North Korean missile reached a peak altitude of 90 kilometers before flying toward the Sea of Okhotsk, after which it went beyond the detection range of the South Korean military.

Therefore, a military official explained that the actual flight distance may exceed 700 kilometers and that it could be an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

A U.S. Air Force Cobra Ball reconnaissance aircraft departed from Japan at around 3 a.m. today to monitor North Korea over the East Sea, seemingly in anticipation of North Korea's new missile launch.

While North Korea usually reports launches of missiles of intermediate range or shorter the following day, it disclosed the launch today on the very day of the firing under the name of Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Kim Yo-jong stated that the intermediate-range strategic missile launch drill was conducted in the presence of the head of state, Kim Jong-un.

Regarding the flight distance estimates of 700 kilometers by the South Korean military and 680 kilometers by the Japanese Ministry of Defense, she claimed, "When applying a wave-style flight trajectory, the enemies lost the target after the first pull-up point."

In reality, the South Korean military has no reason to track missiles that North Korea fires toward the north where China and Russia are located, nor is it thoroughly equipped with such detection gear.

Kim Yo-jong also called to mind the announcement regarding the introduction of artificial intelligence, stating that the intermediate-range strategic missile has the capability to alter its flight trajectory at low altitudes.

This means it conducts an irregular maneuver after descending in altitude following ballistic flight, which is a characteristic of hypersonic missiles.

Kim Yo-jong highlighted the power of the strategic missile by citing remarks from Kim Jong-un that it is a technology no country in the world can acquire for at least several years.

Video by Nam Il | Graphics by Jeon Yoo-geun
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.