North Korea says it successfully conducted final test of hypersonic missile

North Korea launches what it claims is a new hypersonic missile, Jan. 11, in this photo released by its official Korean Central News Agency the following day. Yonhap

North Korea said Wednesday it had successfully conducted the final test of a new hypersonic missile a day earlier, as it continues to develop new weapons systems amid stalled denuclearization negotiations with the United States.

On Tuesday, South Korea's defense ministry said the North launched what appeared to be a ballistic missile into the East Sea which flew over 700 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 60 km and a top speed of Mach 10 (10 times the speed of sound).

"The test-fire was aimed at the final verification of overall technical specifications of the developed hypersonic weapon system," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the launch.

During Tuesday's test, the hypersonic glide vehicle demonstrated "glide jump flight," "corkscrew maneuvering," and hit "the set target in waters 1,000 km off," the KCNA noted.

"The superior maneuverability of the hypersonic glide vehicle was more strikingly verified through the final test-fire," it added.

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Kim expressed "great expectations" that the officials in the missile research sector would "help bolster the war deterrent of the country with their continued ultra-modern scientific research achievements."

The latest launch marked the North's second missile test in less than a week.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier downplayed the North's hypersonic missile claims as "exaggeration," but said the latest launch demonstrated an "improvement" over the previously tested versions.

The North conducted the first test of what it claimed to be a "hypersonic" missile, the Hwasong-8, last September, though the missile flew at a speed of around Mach 3 at that time.

Developing a hypersonic weapon was one of the North's "five core tasks" under a five-year plan to strengthen its defense capabilities unveiled at its eighth party congress held a year ago.

On Tuesday, Kim again stressed "the need to further accelerate the efforts to steadily build up the country's strategic military muscle both in quality and quantity."

The North's latest saber-rattling came as denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang remain stalled since the no-deal Hanoi summit in February 2019.

President Moon Jae-in expressed concern over North Korea's repeated missile launches ahead of South Korea's presidential election in March, and ordered officials to come up with measures to ensure "no further tension in inter-Korean relations."

The White House also condemned North Korea's latest test and urged the North to engage in dialogue. (Yonhap)

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