North Korea says it tested new solid-fuel intermediate-range missile

North Korea said Wednesday it tested a new hypersonic intermediaterange missile powered with solid propellants extending a run in weapons demonstrations thats deepening a nuclear standoff with neighbours and the United States With the supposed success of the test North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared his country had acquired the ability to build solidfuel nuclearcapable systems for missiles of all ranges as he pursues an arsenal that could viably threaten rivals in Asia and the United StatesThe report by North Korean state media came a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected the North launching a missile from near its capital toward its eastern sea North Korean state media said the test was supervised by Kim who described the Hwasong16B missile as a key piece of his nuclear war deterrent he vowed to further build up to counter his enemies a reference to the United States South Korea and JapanKim said the North has now developed nuclearcapable solidfuel systems for all the tactical operational and strategic missiles with various ranges the Korean Central News Agency said In recent years North Korea has been focusing on developing more weapons with builtin solid propellants Those weapons are easier to move and hide and can be made to launch quicker than liquidpropellant missiles which need to be fuelled before launch and cannot stay fuelled for long periods of timeNorth Korea last year tested a solidfuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time adding to its arsenal of longrange weapons targeting the US mainland The country also has an extensive lineup of shortrange and midrange solidfuel missiles that can be fired from land vehicles ships and submarines and are potentially capable of reaching targets throughout South Korea and Japan The North in recent months demonstrated some of these missiles in drills it described as simulated nuclear strikes while issuing provocative threats of nuclear conflictThe North has since 2021 also been testing hypersonic weapons designed to exceed five times the speed of sound If perfected such systems could potentially pose a challenge to regional missile defence systems because of their speed and maneuverability However its unclear whether the Norths hypersonic vehicles consistently maintained a desired speed exceeding Mach 5 during tests in 2021 and 2022During Tuesdays test the missiles hypersonic glide warhead after being separated from the launch rocket reached a peak altitude of 101 km 62 miles and flew about 1000 km 621 miles while performing various flight maneuvers before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan the KCNA said The South Korean and Japanese militaries had assessed that the missile flew around 600 372 miles although Japans Defence Ministry announced a similar apogee with the North Korean reportThe North had also tested a purported hypersonic IRBM in January which came years after it flighttested liquidfuel IRBMs Experts say such weapons if perfected is potentially capable of reaching remote US targets in the Pacific including the military hub of Guam Kim Dongyub a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul said the missile tested on Tuesday was likely different from the system tested in January which state media didnt name but would likely be the Hwasong16ANorth Korea in previous tests have unveiled two different types of hypersonic vehicles a conical one and a wedgeshaped one State media images show that the January launch involved a conical warhead while the wedgeshaped design was used for Tuesdays launch While North Korea had initially tested its hypersonic warheads with liquidfuel systems the ability to load them on solidfuel rockets would allow for faster launches and operation said Chang Youngkeun a missile expert at South Koreas Research Institute for National StrategyNorth Korea in declaring that it has fully accomplished the nuclear weaponisation of its missiles also emphasised its commitment to arm its hypersonic missiles with nuclear weapons Chang said North Koreas development of hypersonic IRBMs targets Guam which hosts US military bases and even AlaskaTensions in the region have risen since 2022 as Kim used Russias invasion of Ukraine as a distraction to accelerate his testing of missiles and other weapons The United States and South Korea have responded by expanding their combined training and trilateral drills involving Japan and sharpening their deterrence strategies built around strategic US assetsWhile supervising Tuesdays test Kim Jong Un called for his country to further expand its nuclear and missile programme to acquire overwhelming power capable of containing and controlling his enemies who have recently run higher fever in boosting their military alliance and staging all sorts of war drillsHours after the launch Seouls Defence Ministry announced that South Korea the United States and Japan conducted a combined aerial exercise above waters near South Koreas Jeju island that involved at least one nuclearcapable US B52 bomber The United States in recent months has been increasing its deployment of strategic assets to the region also including aircraft carriers and missilefiring submarines in a show of force against North KoreaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever