Kim Jong Un underscores the need to bolster Pyongyang nuclear deterrent, citing \u2018recent geopolitical crisis\u2019, state media reports.<\/p>\n
Published On 5 Jan 20265 Jan 2026<\/p>\n
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North Korea\u2019s leader Kim Jong Un has overseen the test flights of hypersonic missiles, underscoring the need to bolster the country\u2019s nuclear deterrent amid \u201cthe recent geopolitical crisis\u201d and \u201ccomplicated international events,\u201d according to state media.<\/p>\n
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed the drills on Monday, a day after North Korea\u2019s neighbours said they detected multiple ballistic missile launches.<\/p>\n
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The tests came just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for China for a summit with President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
The KCNA said that Sunday\u2019s drill involving a hypersonic weapon system was meant to examine its readiness, enhance missile troops\u2019 firepower operational skills and evaluate the operational capabilities of the country\u2019s war deterrent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough today\u2019s launching drill, we can confirm that a very important technology task for national defence has been carried out,\u201d Kim said, according to KCNA. \u201cWe must continuously upgrade the military means, especially offensive weapon systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
The missiles hit targets about 1,000km (621 miles) away, over the sea \u200deast of \u2060North Korea, KCNA said.<\/p>\n
Kim added that \u201cit\u2019s a very important \u200bstrategy to maintain or expand the strong and reliable \u200dnuclear deterrent\u201d, because of \u201cthe recent geopolitical crisis and various international circumstances\u201d.<\/p>\n
The missile launch followed a North Korean statement on Sunday that denounced the attacks by the United States on Venezuela and its abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang slammed the action as a \u201cserious encroachment of sovereignty\u201d and said it again showed \u201cthe rogue and brutal nature\u201d of the US.<\/p>\n
North Korea\u2019s leadership has for\u00a0decades justified its nuclear and missile programmes as a deterrent against alleged regime change efforts by Washington.<\/p>\n
Hong Min, an expert on North Korea \u200cat the Korea Institute for National Unification \u2060in Seoul, wrote in a note on Monday that Pyongyang\u2019s latest test was an apparent response to the US strikes on Venezuela. The missile appears to be the Hwasong-11, which was showcased at a parade in October, Hong said, citing his analysis of images \u200cpublished in state media reports.<\/p>\n
Hong added that the Kim government is emphasising its ability to launch such missiles at any time, an \u200deffort to complicate US-South Korea\u2019s missile defence system and prevent its preemptive interception.<\/p>\n
The possession of a functioning hypersonic weapon would give North Korea the ability to penetrate the US and South Korea\u2019s missile defence shields. In past years, North Korea has performed a series of tests to acquire it, but many foreign experts question whether the tested missiles have achieved their desired speed and maneuverability during flights.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, North Korea has test-fired what it called long-range strategic cruise missiles and new anti-air missiles. It has also released photos showing apparent progress in the construction of its first nuclear-powered submarine.<\/p>\n
Observers say North Korea aims to demonstrate or review its achievements in the weapons development sector ahead of the ruling Workers\u2019 Party Congress, the first of its kind in five years. Keen attention is on whether Kim would use the congress to set a new approach to relations with the US and resume long-dormant talks.<\/p>\n
Separately, North Korea\u2019s nuclear programme is expected to be discussed when Lee and Xi meet for a summit later on Monday.<\/p>\n
Lee\u2019s office earlier said he would call for China, North Korea\u2019s major ally and economic pipeline, to take \u201ca constructive role\u201d in efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kim Jong Un underscores the need to bolster Pyongyang nuclear deterrent, citing \u2018recent geopolitical crisis\u2019, state media reports.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":493225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[13214,50,24240,375,9826,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-493224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-asia-pacific","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-north-korea","11":"tag-nuclear-weapons","12":"tag-weapons","13":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115840433617324826","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}