North Korea Tests ‘New Hypersonic Missile’ Ahead of Trump’s Inauguration

Footage aired by North Korean broadcaster KRT on January 7 showed what the country described as a successful test-fire of a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile (IRBM) launched on January 6. The move has been condemned by South Korea. This test occurred less than two weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump, who had held unprecedented summits with Kim Jong-un during his first term, returns to office. It was North Korea’s first missile launch since November 5 and coincided with a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to South Korea. Blinken pledged to strengthen bilateral and trilateral cooperation with Japan to address the growing military threats from Pyongyang. The missile was fired from the outskirts of Pyongyang and flew 1,500 km (932 miles) at 12 times the speed of sound, reaching a maximum altitude of nearly 100 km before accurately landing at a target off the east coast, according to KCNA. South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok stated the launch poses a “serious threat” to security on the Korean Peninsula and worldwide, while Lee Sung-jun, spokesman for the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed doubts over North Korea’s claimed flight distance and secondary peak altitude, calling them “highly deceptive”. n18oc_world n18oc_crux