Key Takeaways
- The DPRK successfully test-fired an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile, marking a significant milestone in its defense science and technology.
- The Hwasongpho-16B missile is a new-type intermediate-range solid-fueled ballistic missile, loaded with a newly-developed hypersonic gliding warhead.
- Kim Jong Un guided the missile test and emphasized the need to develop a powerful defense system capable of containing and controlling enemies.
Seoul: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday successfully test-fired an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile with its top leader guiding the event on the spot, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday.
For the first time, the DPRK launched a new-type intermediate-range solid-fueled ballistic missile, the Hwasongpho-16B, which carried a newly-developed hypersonic gliding warhead.
The missile was launched towards the northeast at an army unit’s training field on the outskirts of Pyongyang, the report said.
After separation from the missile, the hypersonic gliding warhead reached its first peak at the height of 101.1 kilometers and the second peak at the height of 72.3 kilometers while making 1,000-km-long flight as scheduled, before it accurately fell into the eastern waters off the Korean Peninsula, the report said.
The test-fire had made no adverse effect on the security of neighboring countries, it added.
Calling the missile “another powerful strategic offensive weapon to demonstrate the absolute advantage of the DPRK defense science and technology,” Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, said the country has “put all of its tactical, operational and strategic missiles with various ranges on solid-fueled, warhead-controlled and nuclear warhead-carrying basis,” representing the successful implementation of the party’s principles of missile development drive for “rapidly, accurately and powerfully striking any target in the enemy side worldwide,” according to the KCNA report.
Kim Jong Un emphasized that the country’s top priority is to develop a powerful defense system capable of containing and controlling enemies. He urged the defense science sector to improve the national defense capacity steadily.
