WEB DESK
North Korea tested a newly developed hypersonic missile today, state news media KCNA reported. South Korea’s military said that North Korea fired the missile towards the sea off its east coast. Pyongyang called on the United States and South Korea to scrap their “double standards” on weapons programmes to restart diplomatic talks. The development of the weapon system increases North Korea’s defence capabilities, KCNA said, describing the hypersonic missile as a “strategic weapon”.
It said the missile, called Hwasong-8, performed to its technical targets “including the guiding manoeuvrability and the gliding flight characteristics of the detached hypersonic gliding warhead.” The Hwasong series missiles use liquid propellant engines, according to Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He tweeted that this is the first test of a liquid propellant missile in North Korea since November 2017,” .