North Korea (DPRK) has announced that it has successfully tested a new intermediate-range ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic warhead.

The Yonhap news agency reported on this.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un attended the launch.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the missile flew about 1,500 kilometers during the test at 12 times the speed of sound.

The DPRK also claims that a new carbon fiber compound was used to manufacture the hypersonic missile’s engine casing and that an unspecified “comprehensive and efficient” method was used for the flight and guidance system.

However, South Korea’s military has said that the DPRK’s claimed success in launching a hypersonic missile could be a “hoax” that raises questions about the missile’s range and other characteristics.

According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), a suspected North Korean hypersonic missile fired on January 6 from the Pyongyang area reached a maximum altitude of about 100 km and flew about 1,100 km before falling into the East Sea.

This was North Korea’s first missile launch since November 5, 2024, coinciding with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to South Korea.

During this visit, they discussed bilateral and trilateral cooperation, particularly with Japan, to respond to North Korea’s growing military threats.

The missile

According to experts, North Korea has likely launched an updated version of the Hwasongpho-16B hypersonic missile (also known as Hwasong-16B), already launched in April last year.

North Korea claimed that the missile was a ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic glider that flew 1,000 kilometers.

However, South Korea then reported that the North Korean missile flew only 600 kilometers, calling Pyongyang’s statements partly “exaggerated.” At the same time, it recognized the achievement of certain technological progress in the DPRK’s hypersonic weapons program.