North Korea tests ‘cutting-edge’ hypersonic missiles ahead of Trump's Asia visit

North Korea on Thursday announced it had tested a "cutting-edge" new weapon system featuring hypersonic missiles, intended to strengthen its defenses against adversaries. Seoul's military detected the launch on Wednesday, marking Pyongyang's first such test in several months.

This development occurred just a week before global leaders, comprising US President Donald Trump, are scheduled to gather in South Korea for a significant regional summit.

Test intended to improve “sustainability and effectiveness of strategic deterrence'

Top military official Pak Jong Chon stated that the "new cutting-edge weapon system is a clear proof of steadily upgrading self-defensive technical capabilities of the DPRK", according to the state news agency KCNA, which uses North Korea’s official acronym.

KCNA added that the test was intended to improve the “sustainability and effectiveness of strategic deterrence against potential enemies.” There were no reports indicating that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was present at the launch.

State media said the two "hypersonic projectiles" had been launched south of the capital Pyongyang and had hit a target in the country's northeast.

Images shared by KCNA showed a missile flying through the air, before hitting a target and exploding in a hail of black dirt and smoke.

Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.

They have been deployed to deadly effect this year on cities in Ukraine by Russia, with whom North Korea has deepened ties in recent years, and by Iran against Israel.

North Korean media did not share details of the new missiles' range, trajectory angle or speed. And Kim's absence from the launch may indicate Pyongyang was seeking to "tone down" its impact, Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.

Yang added, "However, given its range, the hypersonic missile is clearly aimed at the South," added Yang, mentioning the timing of the launch just days prior to the APEC summit.

During the US leader’s first term, Trump and Kim met three times, but their meetings did not succeed in halting Kim’s nuclear weapons development. Since then, Kim has grown closer to President Vladimir Putin, backing his war in Ukraine and appearing alongside Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a large military parade in Beijing last month, according to the Bloomberg report. Only days after participating in the Beijing parade, Kim supervised a ground test of a high-thrust solid-fuel engine intended for long-range missiles, marking another advancement in North Korea’s efforts to expand its nuclear arsenal.