N.KOREA CONFIRMS MISSILE LAUNCH

[Anchor Lead]

The North Korean media announced that the rocket launched on Wednesday was a hypersonic missile. North Korea claimed that the test was a success since the missile hit the target 700 kilometers away, while the South Korean military said South Korea is fully capable of responding to it.

[Pkg]

A photo of the hypersonic missile that North Korea launched on Wednesday. Compared to the one taken in September, the warhead wings changed to triangular from rectangular shapes. This modification appears to have reduced air resistance and improved speed. The latest hypersonic missile is estimated to have flown at five times the speed of sound while the one in September travelled at three times the speed of sound. Its flight range seems to have improved as well. KCNA said the missile precisely hit a target 700 kilometers away. According to the report, it maneuvered laterally for 120 kilometers. If true, North Korea may have already obtained lateral flight tech, which makes the missile harder to intercept.

[Soundbite] Shin Jong-woo(Senior Researcher, Korea Defense and Security Forum) : "North Korea appears to have secured the technology before proceeding with the development. That means the regime could finish developing hypersonic missiles earlier than we thought."

Seoul and Washington's military authorities, however, appear to have made a different assessment on various aspects including flight range and altitude.

[Soundbite] Col. Kim Jun-rak(Joint Chiefs of Staff) : "Various South Korean and American intel resources detected the missile. The South Korean military is capable of responding to it and continues to improve response capability and readiness."

Kim Jong-un didn’t attend the launch. The North Korean newspaper placed the article not on the front page, but on the second. Pyongyang is acting as if it’s a normal weapons development done by an ordinary nation.

[Soundbite] (North Korea Central TV(Jan. 6)) : "It has the strategic significance of stepping up the modernization of strategic weapons proposed at the Party’s 8th Congress and completing the most crucial task of the five-year plan."

North Korea is likely to continue testing weapons as planned, but South Korea and the U.S. say the latest launch is in violation of the UNSC's resolution. Although Washington had asked for an assembly after a missile test in September, the Security Council has not issued any joint response.