{"id":467110,"date":"2022-01-12T01:57:15","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T01:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/korea\/missile-01112022204855.html"},"modified":"2022-01-12T01:57:15","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T01:57:15","slug":"north-korea-raises-stakes-with-new-mach-10-hypersonic-missile-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/01\/12\/north-korea-raises-stakes-with-new-mach-10-hypersonic-missile-test\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea raises stakes with new Mach-10 hypersonic missile test"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
North Korea test launched a ballistic missile Tuesday capable of speeds exceeding Mach-10, displaying an apparent technological advance in its second hypersonic test of 2022, South Korea\u2019s military said.<\/p>\n
The launch came less than a week after Pyongyang tested another hypersonic missile, but Tuesday\u2019s was likely more advanced. If so, the test would seem to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un\u2019s New Year\u2019s Day promise to increase military capabilities through advanced technology as talks with South Korea and the U.S. have stalled.<\/p>\n
But analysts said it was too soon to determine how big of a technological advancement Tuesday\u2019s test represented.<\/p>\n
Early findings estimate that the missile travelled eastward from the northern province of Chagang into waters east of the peninsula, about 770 km (435 miles) away, South Korea\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The missile reached a maximum height of 60 kilometers (37 miles), with a speed of up to 10 times the speed of sound.<\/p>\n
\"We assess that this is more advanced than the missile North Korea fired on Jan. 5, though South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are conducting detailed analysis,\" the JCS said.<\/p>\n
That missile was also claimed by North Korea to be hypersonic\u2013fast enough to thwart defenses\u2013but the South Korean defense ministry said this exaggerated the capabilities, and the missile was merely a slight upgrade over a ballistic missile. A U.S. weapons expert also said the focus on speed was misplaced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told RFA\u2019s Korean Service the test was a \u201cviolation of multiple U.N. Security Council Resolutions and poses a threat to [North Korea\u2019s] neighbors and the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that although the launch did not \u201cpose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK\u2019s illicit weapons program.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.N. Secretary General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, through a spokesperson, expressed concern over the launch, and reiterated that diplomatic engagement was the only way to reach a solution to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.<\/p>\n
Several experts, both in South Korea and the U.S. said they expected that North Korea will continue to test weapons systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason why North Korea conducts these tests every few days is to complete the development of strategic weapons and nuclear weapons to an irreversible level,\u201d Hong Min, director of the North Korea Research Division at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for National Unification, told RFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to be a series of actions in the beginning of the process to make sure that it is a matter of sovereignty at the level of self-defense as the international community continues to raise issues,\u201d Hong said.<\/p>\n