No Mention of 'Landmines'... North Korea "Test-Fires Hypersonic Missile"

[Anchor]

North Korea has released photos of what it claimed was an intermediate-range hypersonic missile test-fire conducted yesterday (October 3). The missile is analyzed to be capable of putting Guam within its striking range.

Reporter Choi Jae-yeong analyzes why North Korea disclosed this drill without making any mention of its responsibility for the landmine explosion incident.

[Reporter]

Releasing photos of what it called an "intermediate-range strategic missile" launched yesterday, North Korea showed General Secretary Kim Jong Un, his wife Ri Sol Ju, and daughter Kim Ju Ae observing the launch.

Featuring a sharp, cone-shaped warhead, North Korea stated that it conducted a "drill of a hypersonic strategic weapon system."

On a monitor shown in the photos, the characteristic trajectory of a hypersonic missile can be faintly identified.

It appears to have regained altitude during its descent phase before gliding 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 claimed the flight distance of this launch was 1,000 kilometers, experts analyze that it could reach a range of 3,000 kilometers if launched on a standard trajectory.

This means it could strike not only Japan but also the U.S. territory of Guam.

North Korea also launched what was presumed to be a short-range hypersonic missile on September 20, appearing to showcase that it is systematizing hypersonic missiles across various ranges.

[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 cone-shaped hypersonic missile unveiled today is an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of striking not only U.S. military bases in Japan but also Guam...]

Notably, the test-launch of a missile threatening as far as the U.S. territory of Guam took place the very day after North Korea rejected South Korea's demands for an apology and dialogue regarding the landmine explosion incident.

[Hong Min / Senior Research Fellow at Korea Institute for National Unification: It sent a comprehensive message that, regardless of South Korea's demands for corresponding measures over the landmine explosion, its buildup of deterrence based on its self-declared nuclear state status will proceed as planned.]

The South Korean military stated that it is fully capable of detecting and intercepting North Korean missiles using South Korea-U.S. defense assets.

(Video by Choi Jin-hwa | Graphics by Kim Han-gil)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.