North Korea test fires new hypersonic missile as fears grow over Kim Jong-un 'deception'
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North Korea has claimed it successfully test fired a new hypersonic missile designed to strike remote targets in the Pacific - as fears grow over Kim Jong-un's "deception.". The dictator has vowed to further expand his collection of nuclear-capable weapons to counter rival nations, just a day after North Korea claimed his missile flew 930 miles at 12 times the speed of sound before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the South Korean military believes North Korea was exaggerating capabilities of the system, saying the missile covered less distance and that there was no second peak. Lee said the test was likely a followup to another hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile test last April and said it would be difficult to use such systems in a relatively small territory like the Korean Peninsula. He said the South Korean and US militaries were continuing to analyse the missile.
“It is assessed that North Korea’s claim of the flight distance and the second peak altitude is highly likely deception,” said Lee Sung Joon. “The flight range analysed by South Korea, the United States and Japan is around 1,100 kilometers and [the missile] did not reach a second peak. Hypersonic missiles will be difficult to demonstrate their performance in the Korean Peninsula, which has a short length of depth,” said Lee.
