North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of a new ballistic missile designed to deploy a hypersonic glide vehicle that can deliver a nuclear payload, his state media reported, calling the test “an epoch-making success.”

Kim’s propaganda apparatus on Wednesday lauded the launch of the missile that took place a day earlier, which it said was intermediate-range – meaning it could hit US military bases in the region. It also touted that it’s solid-fuel, meaning it can be quickly deployed and fired.

It still remains to be seen if North Korea has actually developed a functional hypersonic glide vehicle. These weapons are designed to deploy a reentry vehicle for carrying a nuclear warhead that can change its flight path at high speeds, making them hard for interceptors to shoot down.

North Korean state media showed images of Kim near the missile dubbed the Hwasong-16B prior to launch and the rocket flying in the air. Kim “has personally blazed the ceaseless untrodden path to developing and perfecting ultra-modern weapons with his unshakable will and inexhaustible energy,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

“This sort of weapon needs to be highly responsive as it’s one of the first weapons you’d employ in a conflict, which is why the DPRK is so excited about it being solid-fueled,” said Decker Eveleth, a graduate research assistant at James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, who referred to North Korea by its formal name.

Hwasong-16B. pic.twitter.com/FCHQBmDhdO

— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) April 2, 2024

The missile launched Tuesday flew about 600 kilometers (375 miles), according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and appeared to be related to a new engine for a hypersonic missile system North Korea tested about a month ago. 

North Korea has a habit of provocations timed to coincide with elections in South Korea, and the launch came before a vote for a new parliament on April 10. Kim’s regime has bristled at the government of current conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has taken a hard line on Pyongyang, and the latest launch serves as a reminder of North Korea’s threats to security.

North Korea last tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile in January. A missile of this sort is built to fly far enough to hit all of Japan, where the US has tens of thousands of troops. It can also reach US military facilities in Guam, where the Pentagon says it keeps one of America’s largest munitions depots in the world.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

This file photo provided by the North Korean government shows what it says is an intercontinental ballistic missile in a launching drill at the Sunan international airport in Pyongyang, North Korea
| Photo Credit: AP

North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on August 30, South Korea’s military said, hours after the U.S. flew at least one long-range bomber to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against the North.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missiles were launched late Wednesday evening from North Korea’s capital region.

It said South Korea’s military boosted its surveillance posture and maintained its readiness in close coordination with the United States.

Japan’s Defense Ministry also announced that North Korea fired at least one suspected ballistic missile.

Earlier Wednesday, the United States flew a B-1B bomber to the Korean Peninsula as part of field exercises with South Korea. The field training is being held on the sidelines of an ongoing annual U.S.-South Korean computer-simulated command post exercise called “Ulchi Freedom Shield” that began Aug. 21.

North Korea views U.S.-South Korean military drills as an invasion rehearsal.

North Korea is sensitive to the deployment of U.S. B-1B bombers, which are capable of carrying a large payload of conventional weapons.

Wednesday’s B-1B deployment is the 10th flyover by U.S. bombers on the Korean Peninsula this year.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the bomber took part in aerial drills with other U.S. and South Korean warplanes in waters off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast. It said the drills demonstrated the countries’ combined defense posture and the U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea.

North Korea’s state media said Tuesday that leader Kim Jong Un called for the military to be constantly ready for combat to thwart plans by its rivals to invade. Also Tuesday, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan mobilized naval destroyers for a trilateral missile defense exercise off South Korea’s southern Jeju island.

Kim said in a speech marking the country’s Navy Day on Monday that the waters off the Korean Peninsula have been made unstable “with the danger of a nuclear war” because of U.S.-led hostilities, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Since the beginning of 2022, North Korea has carried out more than 100 weapons tests, many of them involving nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike the U.S., South Korea and Japan. Many experts say North Korea ultimately wants to use its increased military capabilities to wrest greater concessions from the U.S.

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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.