North Korea claimed to have launched its second successful test flight of a hypersonic missile on Thursday. The Associated Press reports that leader Kim Jong Un pledged to strengthen his military despite pandemic-related challenges.
On Wednesday, North Korea’s first known weapons test in about two months suggests the country will move forward with plans to modernize its nuclear and missile arsenals rather than return to disarmament discussions anytime soon.
According to the official Korean Central News Agency, the governing Workers’ Party’s Central Committee expressed “great pleasure” with the missile test findings viewed by top weapons experts, The Scottish Sun reports.
Because of their speed and mobility, hypersonic weapons, which travel at speeds more than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, could represent a significant threat to missile defense systems. It’s unclear whether or how soon North Korea could manufacture such a high-tech missile.
Still, it was among a wish-list of sophisticated military assets that Kim disclosed early last year, along with a multi-warhead missile, spy satellites, solid-fueled long-range missiles, and underwater-launched nuclear missiles.
North Korea first fired a hypersonic missile in September, making Wednesday’s test the second of its sort.
Since a series of summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-U.S. President Donald Trump ultimately failed with no agreement, talks to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile arsenal have been frozen, Reuters reports.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has said it is open to talking to North Korea, The Denver Gazette reports. Still, the North Korean government has said American overtures are empty rhetoric without more substantive changes to “hostile policies” such as military drills and sanctions.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the launch “extremely regrettable,” The Sentinel Source reports and said his government would step up surveillance.
North Korea’s most powerful ally, China, called on all parties to “act prudently” and keep negotiations and consultations on track, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.