This week, North Korea tested a hypersonic missile for the first time in its history. Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles can be guided at all stages in flight, and at higher speeds. These factors make them harder to spot on radar and to intercept. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un reacted to the tests by saying “Through today’s launching drill, we can confirm that a very important technology task for national defence has been carried out…We must continuously upgrade the military means, especially offensive weapon systems.” The tests sent shockwaves through the region, with Japan and South Korea being keenly aware of who these tests were meant to intimidate.
Japan has reacted strongly. Given the country’s history, it can be forgiven for sensitivity to potential nuclear attack. Stories of the horrors of the atomic bomb are a major part of post-war Japanese psychology and avoiding a repeat of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is paramount. The country purchased American missile defence systems to deal with North Korea’s ballistic missile threat. But Pyongyang now possesses hypersonic missiles that may be impossible to shoot down, and Tokyo has every reason to feel rattled. In Seoul, South Korea’s National Security Council met to discuss the threat and how to best respond.
The new missile tests are the latest episode in Kim Jong Un’s aggressive foreign policy. Pyongyang has adopted a harsher stance towards South Korea. In 2001, a 30-metre-tall monument, the Arch of Reunification, was built by his father Kim Sung Il, to symbolise a desire for peaceful reunification with the south. But in 2024, the arch was destroyed on Kim Jong Un’s orders. This came shortly after North Korea changed its constitution to remove references to eventually peacefully reunifying with its neighbour. The new constitution text now proclaims South Korea as an “invariable principal enemy” that the North vows to “completely occupying” in the event of war.
The North Korea leader is far more aggressive than his father, Kim Il Sung, whom he succeeded as president in 2013. Kim has shown that he is every inch the ruthless dictator of imagination. This includes both his domestic policy and his foreign policy. Under Kim Jong Un, the hermit state has ramped up its aggressive intent. The country’s nuclear weapons programme continues at pace, with the US Congress estimating Pyongyang currently possesses up to 90 nuclear weapons. Pyongyang possesses enough fissile material to build dozens more. If added to its new hypersonic missiles, the chances of intercepting these weapons would be greatly reduced.
On the home front Kim Jong Un has brutally tightened his grip on power. This is especially true of potential rivals who were close to his father but are suspected of being less loyal to himself. Kim ordered the execution of former armed forces minister Hyon Yong‑chol.. Former Military Chief, Ri Yong-gill, , reportedly met a similar fate.Kim even ordered the execution of his own uncle, Jang Song-thaek, on charges of treason..
The aim is simple; kill rivals to intimidate them and include a family member to underline that nobody will escape suspicion or punishment.
North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons, regarding them as a guarantee against US invasion. Indeed, American action against Venezuela was cited by North Korea as grounds for the hypersonic weapons tests. There were unconfirmed rumours North Korea was preparing to give other tyrannies nuclear weapons to guard against western intervention. Whatever the truth of that, the nuclear-armed tyrant in Pyongyang now possesses hypersonic weapons. The free world must stand vigilant against them.
