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North Korea launches hypersonic missile as top U.S. envoy visits Seoul and Trump 2.0 just weeks away

Published: 06 Jan. 2025, 12:13 Updated: 06 Jan. 2025, 16:15

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

A television screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, as North Korea launched a ballistic missile the same day on Jan. 6. [AP/YONHAP]

North Korea fired what is presumed to be a hypersonic ballistic missile into the East Sea on Monday in what is seen as a provocative move with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting Seoul and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration only two weeks away.

The launch was the first of a ballistic missile launch this year and the first missile launch in two months since a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) test on Nov. 5 of last year.

According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the military detected a ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea around noon Monday. The missile flew approximately 1,100 kilometers (683 miles) before landing in the ocean.

The missile was initially assessed as having a medium-range engine with a range of 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers, but the actual flight distance was less than that.

North Korea may have reduced the range by adjusting the amount of fuel, or the flight distance was inaccurately determined due to the characteristics of a hypersonic missile flying at a low altitude.

The missile launched Monday is believed to be similar to the solid-fuel hypersonic missile launched in January and April of last year, although North Korea may have improved its performance since then.

If the missile was indeed a hypersonic missile, its flight distance of 1,100 kilometers would be the farthest any North Korean hypersonic missile has traveled. If the mid-range engine is fully utilized, the missile could put the U.S. territory of Guam — a key U.S. staging area in an emergency on the Korean Peninsula — in strike distance.

North Korea, which had not launched a ballistic missile since Trump won the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 6 last year, conducted the launch two weeks before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, and as the top U.S. diplomat is in Seoul for meetings with acting President Choi Sang-mok and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul.

The JCS said that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities "had been monitoring the launch preparations in advance” and that Seoul and Washington have strengthened surveillance and vigilance in preparation for additional launches.

A KN-23 short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) launched by North Korea in March 2021. The missile is nicknamed the ″North Korean Iskander″ [YONHAP]

South Korea’s military also detected North Korea operating a mobile launcher (TEL) believed to be used for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICMBs) near the launch site, the JCS said.

Some point out that as North Korea’s launch was conducted during the South Korea-U.S. foreign ministers’ meeting in Seoul, the move indirectly expresses dissatisfaction with the Joe Biden administration’s North Korea policy.

The launch also comes amid political instability in South Korea due to the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Analysts say North Korea may have tried to test the South’s readiness following the transfer of military command from Yoon to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to Finance Minister Choi, the current acting president.

“In the current security situation, the military is closely monitoring various trends in North Korea under the strong South Korea-U.S. joint defense posture to prevent North Korea from miscalculating and maintains the ability and posture to overwhelmingly respond to any provocations,” said the JCS.

Update, Jan. 6: Information on the missile type and the JCS's response added, along with the possible implications of the launch.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]