The test was led by Workers’ Party General Secretary and Chairman of the State Affairs Committee Kim Jong Un, who described the rocket as a “powerful and strategically valuable offensive weapon.”

The also supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army stressed that the country has perfected the project to put all tactical, operational, and strategic missiles of various ranges on a solid fuel base and capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Experts said a hypersonic missile is difficult to intercept with current missile shields, as they travel at a speed of at least Mach 5 (five times faster than the speed of sound). They are designed to be manageable on unpredictable routes and at low altitudes.

Launched on Tuesday, the Hwasongpho-16 reached its first peak at an altitude of 101.1 kilometers, and the second at 72.3 kilometers, in a 1,000-kilometer flight that ended – without danger to the safety of neighboring nations – over a predetermined point in the waters of the East Sea of Korea, KCNA said.

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