N. KOREA REPORTS ON MISSILE LAUNCH

[Anchor Lead]

North Korea said Wednesday it successfully conducted a test-firing of a hypersonic missile a day earlier. It said the missile hit a target some 1,000 kilometers away and unlike the previous test, leader Kim Jong-un observed the latest firing.

[Pkg]

North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun reported the Academy of Defence Science test-fired a hypersonic missile on Tuesday. According to photos disclosed, the missile appears to be the same type as the one fired last Wednesday which has a cone-shaped warhead. The newspaper said after being separated from the missile, the hypersonic glide vehicle made a glide jump flight from the 600 kilometer point before making a 240 kilometer corkscrew maneuvering from the initial launch azimuth to the target azimuth and hitting the set target in waters 1,000 kilometers away. Compared to the previous test when the regime described a 120 kilometer side maneuvering and hitting a target 700 kilometers off, Tuesday’s launch seems to be an improvement. The North said the test-fire was aimed at the final verification of overall technical specifications of the developed hypersonic weapon system. It highlighted the superior maneuverability of the hypersonic glide vehicle was more clearly verified through the final test-fire. Unlike last week, Kim Jong-un watched the test-fire. The paper said Kim highly praised the scientists for their practical achievements, as they brought great success in developing hypersonic weapons, considered one of the five core tasks in the five-year national defense plan set forth at the ruling party congress. The regime's leader also stressed the need to accelerate efforts to steadily build up strategic military capabilities both in quality and quantity and further modernize the army, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Pyongyang fired a projectile suspected to be a ballistic missile at around 7:27 am Tuesday from Jagang Province. It assessed the missile traveled more than 700 kilometers at a maximum speed of around Mach 10 which is an improvement from last Wednesday’s test.