North Korea announced Thursday that it had successfully launched a hypersonic missile as part of efforts to modernise its strategic weapons systems, just days after leader Kim Jong Un pledged to strengthen his military despite pandemic-related challenges.

Wednesday’s test, the North’s first known weapons test in nearly two months, suggests that the country will press ahead with plans to develop powerful, sophisticated missiles rather than return to disarmament talks anytime soon.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency, the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee expressed “great satisfaction” with the results of the missile test observed by top weapons officials.

Since North Korea first tested a hypersonic missile in September, this is the second known test flight. It’s unclear whether both missiles are the same type of hypersonic missile.

“Successful test launches in the hypersonic missile sector have strategic significance in that they accelerate the task of modernising the state’s strategic armed force,” according to a KCNA dispatch. The term “strategic” implies that the missile is being developed for nuclear weapons delivery.

Because of their speed and manoeuvrability, hypersonic weapons, which travel at speeds greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, could pose a significant threat to missile defence systems.

It’s unclear whether or when North Korea will be able to produce such a sophisticated missile, but it was included in a wish list of advanced military assets released by Kim early last year, which included a multi-warhead missile, spy satellites, solid-fuelled long-range missiles, and submarine-launched nuclear missiles.

The North’s most recent launch was detected first by its neighbours.

It was a ballistic missile launch, according to the US military, that “highlights the destabilising impact of (North Korea’s) illicit weapons programme.” South Korea and Japan both expressed their displeasure with the launch. North Korea should resume talks with other countries, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Due to disagreements over international sanctions on North Korea, a US-led diplomacy on the North’s nuclear programme has been stalled since 2019. The Biden administration has repeatedly called for resuming nuclear diplomacy “anywhere and at any time” without preconditions, but North Korea has insisted that any talks must first end the US’s hostility toward it.

Kim reiterated his pledge to expand his country’s military capabilities during last week’s plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, without publicly presenting any new positions on Washington or Seoul.

Kim’s rule is based on the North’s growing nuclear arsenal, which he refers to as “a powerful treasured sword” that thwarts potential US aggression. During his ten-year reign, he has carried out an unusually large number of weapons tests in order to gain the ability to launch nuclear attacks on the American mainland.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sanctions, and his government’s mismanagement, his country’s economy has been severely harmed in the last two years.

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