North Korea is raising the stakes amid rumors of a possible continuation of negotiations with the United States and its allies. Today, on January 6, the Yonhap news agency reported that North Korea has launched a new ballistic missile at the Sea of Japan.
On January 5, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea reported that the DPRK launched, presumably, a ballistic missile from a ground installation towards the Sea of Japan. This data was also confirmed by the US military, who indicated that they were tracking the trajectory of the missile, and it did not pose a threat to the US and allies.
North Korean missile launch
Image source: yna.co.kr
The Korean Central Telegraph Agency (KCNA) later reported that the missile was hypersonic and accurately hit the target at a distance of 700 km. This is the second missile launch, which is called hypersonic in the DPRK. The first one took place in September last year, but, according to South Korea, then the warhead was accelerated only to a speed of Mach 3 (to be considered hypersonic, the weapon must have a speed of at least Mach 5).