North Korea’s Kim calls for more ‘Military Muscle’ after Watching Hypersonic Missile Test

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for boosting the country’s strategic military forces as he observed the test of a hypersonic missile, state media said on Wednesday, officially attending a missile launch for the first time in nearly two years.

Lat Tuesday authorities in South Korea and Japan detected the suspected launch, which drew condemnation by authorities around the world and prompted an expression of concern from the U.N. secretary-general.

The third test of a “hypersonic missile” in less than two weeks underscored Kim’s New Year’s vow to bolster the military with cutting-edge technology at a time when talks with South Korea and the United States have stalled.

After watching the test, Kim urged military scientists to “further accelerate the efforts to steadily build up the country’s strategic military muscle both in quality and quantity and further modernize the army,” KCNA news agency reported. It was the first time since March 2020 that Kim had officially attended a missile test.

“His presence here would suggest particular attention on this program,” Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, posted on Twitter. Unlike some other recent tests, ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun published photos of Kim attending the launch on its front page.

“While Kim probably unofficially attended other tests in the interim, this appearance and its Page One feature on Rodong Sinmun is important,” said Chad O’Carroll, chief executive of Korea Risk Group, which monitors North Korea. “It means Kim is not concerned about being personally associated (with) tests of major new tech. And doesn’t care how the U.S. sees this.“

Talks aimed at persuading North Korea to surrender or limit its arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles have stalled, with Pyongyang saying it is open to diplomacy but only if the United States and its allies stop “hostile policies” such as sanctions or military drills.

“It obviously takes us in the wrong direction,” she said at a regular briefing in Washington on Tuesday. “As you know, the United States has been saying since this administration came in that we are open to dialogue with North Korea, that we are open to talking about COVID and humanitarian support, and instead they’re firing off missiles.“

Superior Maneuverability

Despite their name, analysts say the main feature of hypersonic weapons is not speed – which can sometimes be matched or exceeded by traditional ballistic missile warheads – but their maneuverability, which makes them an acute threat to missile defense systems.

Photos released by state media appeared to show the same type of missile and warhead that was first tested last week, analysts said.

“The test-fire was aimed at the final verification of overall technical specifications of the developed hypersonic weapon system,” KCNA reported.

After its release from the rocket booster, a hypersonic glide vehicle made a 600 km (375 miles) “glide jump flight” and then 240 km of “corkscrew manoeuvering” before hitting a target in the sea 1,000 km away, the report said.

South Korean officials had questioned the capabilities of the missile after the first test last week, saying it did not appear to demonstrate the range and maneuverability claimed in a state media report and featured a maneuverable warhead rather than an actual glide vehicle.

On Tuesday, however, South Korea said the second test appeared to show improved performance, with the missile reaching top speeds up to 10 times the speed of Sound (12,348 km per hour / 7,673 miles per hour), although they did not comment on its maneuverability.

The Third Test

“The superior maneuverability of the hypersonic glide vehicle was more strikingly verified through the final test-fire,” KCNA said.

State media said the missile fired on Tuesday had successfully made a turn before hitting its target in the sea some 1,000km (621 miles) away. It marks North Korea’s third reported test of a hypersonic missile, which can avoid detection for longer than ballistic missiles. Mr. Kim’s presence could indicate the technology has improved, say analysts.

The latest ramp-up in testing would appear to support Mr. Kim’s stated New Years’ goals, where he vowed to bolster North Korea’s defense capabilities. It came as six countries – including the US – issued a rubbish joint statement condemning last week’s apparent test, and urging the North to cease its “destabilizing actions” to the region, which will be ignored by N. Korea for obvious reasons.

North Korea state outlet KCNA praised the test, saying the “superior maneuverability” of the missile had been “strikingly verified through the final test-fire“. The report claimed the glide missile had made a 600 km (375 miles) “glide jump flight,” followed by 240 km of “corkscrew maneuvering” before hitting its target. The closed-off nation first reported conducting a hypersonic missile test in September 2021.

The Power of North Korea’s hypersonic missiles

Hypersonic glide missiles are dangerous for several reasons. Unlike ballistic missiles, which travel in a largely predictable parabola, making them vulnerable to interception, hypersonic weapons can traverse laterally, close to the earth’s surface, and hit a target in a much shorter flight time.

In addition, hypersonic weapons can also achieve more than five times the speed of sound – or about 6,200km/h (3,850mph). All these features make them harder to track and intercept. These hypersonic missiles are so good they leave nations guessing whether they are carrying a conventional high explosive warhead or a nuclear one. North Korea joins a small number of countries, including the United States and China, in attempting to develop hypersonic missiles.

During the on-site inspection, Mr. Kim called for the strengthening of the country’s “strategic military muscle both in quality and quantity“, South Korean news outlet Yonhap reported. It’s the first time since March 2020 that he has been known to attend a missile launch, and the publicity around his appearance is significant, analysts say.

“While [Mr] Kim probably unofficially attended other tests in the interim, this appearance and its Page One feature on [North Korean newspaper] Rodong Sinmun is important,” Chad O’Carroll, chief executive of the Korea Risk Group which monitors North Korea, told Reuters.

“It means [Mr] Kim is not concerned about being personally associated [with] tests of major new tech. And doesn’t care how the US sees this.”

There have been persistent warnings and sanctions used by the US and UN to deter North Korea’s weapons testing, but Kim Jong-un has defied these so far.

Does the U.S. Military Have A Hypersonic Missile Problem?

The Pentagon trying to develop a hypersonic weapon, where the test ended in failure, Reuters reported, citing people briefed on the test. What exactly went wrong during the test remains unclear, though Reuters explained that the Pentagon intended for the test to validate a hypersonic glide vehicle-type weapon.

Other reports maintain that the rocket lifted off from a launchpad but failed shortly thereafter, and quoted a Pentagon spokesperson who explained that “experiments and tests both successful and unsuccessful are the backbones of developing highly complex critical technologies at tremendous speed, as the department is doing with hypersonic technologies. Delivering hypersonic weapons remains a top priority and the department remains confident that it is on track to field offensive hypersonic capabilities beginning in the early 2020s.”

Rockets Here, Rockets There

Separately, the Army and Navy tested a trio of sounding rockets designed to validate some hypersonic technologies. A Navy statement on the test explains that it “demonstrated advanced hypersonic technologies, capabilities, and prototype systems in a realistic operating environment. In addition, three precision-sounding rocket launches were conducted containing hypersonic experiments from partners, including CPS, AHPO, the Joint Hypersonic Transition Office, SNL, Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory, MITRE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and several defense contractors.”

“During weapon system development, precision sounding rocket launches fill a critical gap between ground testing and full system flight testing. These launches allow for frequent and regular flight testing opportunities to support rapid maturation of offensive and defensive hypersonic technologies.”

The Army-Navy test contributed to the jointly-developed Common Hypersonic Glide Body, variants of which both services will field. However, the Navy’s will be optimized for firing at sea, while the Army’s variant will likely be a containerized, mobile missile setup.

Near-peer Rivals

These most recent tests come on the heels of a Chinese, Russian, and now North Korean hypersonic missile test, first reported by the Financial Times. During that test, a hypersonic glide body circled the earth. Though the glide body reportedly missed its target by a couple of dozen miles, the test caught many by surprise, including senior American military officials.

Despite the weapon’s impressively fast Mach 5+ speeds, one of the other major concerns was the missile’s ability to fly over the South Pole and circumvent American anti-missile defense systems, which are optimized for missiles from the northern hemisphere.

Bottom Line

Despite one of the recent test failures, hypersonic weapons remain one of the Pentagon’s top priorities. So China, Russia, and now North Korea’s recent unexpected hypersonic missile test will likely inject a fresh sense of urgency into the United States’ program — if not exactly a ‘Sputnik moment‘, it may be a significant wake-up call.