North Korea’s Kim Jong Un lauds apparent hypersonic missile test, calls it “incurable headache” for foes

Hong Kong — With his teenage daughter and possible successor by his side, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watched on Sunday as his country tested a purported new hypersonic weapon designed to evade missile defenses. North Korean state media said Kim had lauded the weapon as an “irresistible force” that would be an “incurable headache” for North Korea’s adversaries.

The country’s state-run KCNA news agency said the “new weapon” tested on Sunday was “of great significance.”

The type of weapon was not specified by the reports, but photographs released by KCNA showed Kim, with his daughter Kim Ju Ae, inspecting a screen with a label reading, “Hwasongpho-11Ma-1 flight trajectory.” 

Analysts say the title suggests the test was of an upgraded version of an existing North Korean short-range ballistic missile that adds a retrofitted hypersonic glide vehicle. Hypersonic missiles can generally fly lower and faster than conventional rockets, making them more difficult to intercept. North Korea has tested various hypersonic weapons systems since 2021. 

They are among the advanced weapons Kim has wanted his country to develop as he seeks to upgrade North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.

The test launch on Sunday will come as a blow to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who is expected to lay out plans to improve relations with Pyongyang at the U.N. General Assembly this week. The two Koreas have remained technically at war since fighting in the Korean War ended in 1953 with a ceasefire agreement rather than a full peace deal.

Lee has proposed dropping South Korea’s longstanding demand for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons as a precondition for talks, suggesting instead a freeze on further nuclear weapons testing or development by North Korea, at least initially.

President Trump has also repeatedly expressed interest in meeting with Kim, possibly around the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, in November. The White House has suggested that talks could be held “without any preconditions.”

Mr. Trump met with Kim three times during his first term, but failed to make any progress on the issue of denuclearization. Since then, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and conventional weapons programs and is now believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads. 

South Korea’s government claims Pyongyang has between 80 and 120 warheads. Mr. Trump recently said the North had 57 nuclear warheads.

The Kim regime has given no indication of interest in a new round of talks with Mr. Trump or with Lee, despite Mr. Trump’s move last month to scale back annual military drills with South Korea, which he called “hostile” to Pyongyang.