North Korea is suspected to have test-launched a hypersonic missile on June 26, ramping up tensions in the Korean peninsula.
The South Korean military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch took place from an area near Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital city, at around 5.30am today local time (9.30pm BST on June 25).
The missile, which Seoul believes may have been aimed at the waters off the North Korean eastern coast, is thought to be a hypersonic missile which likely failed its test as the missile exploded after flying around 155 miles.
Japan’s Defence Ministry said the missile had reached an altitude of about 62 miles before falling outside its exclusive economic zone.
The South Korean military believes the weapon used solid fuel rather than liquid propellants. A similar feature would allow North Korea to make its missile launches quicker and harder to detect.
North Korea claimed for the first time in 2021 to have successfully launched a hypersonic missile.
In April, Pyongyang claimed to have tested, under the supervision of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile also powered with solid fuel.
Due to their speed, hypersonic missiles pose a significant threat, being harder to detect and intercept. The US, Russia and China are known to be testing these weapons.
The suspected launch came just days after Pyongyang threatened an “overwhelming, new demonstration of deterrence” after the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt was deployed to take part in military drills with South Korea and Japan.
It also comes one week after Kim and Vladimir Putin struck a deal for mutual aid should either country be attacked.
Another move kindling tensions in the Korean peninsula is the suspected launch of hundreds of balloons from the North to the South “presumed” to be carrying waste.
