The first thing to note is the launch on April 2, when they tested the hypersonic glider again (the previous launch of such a missile was Jan. 14) by firing a long-range heavy solid-propellant missile with a hypersonic warhead on a shortened trajectory. Hypersonic missiles fly at speeds of at least Mach 5 – five times the speed of sound – and are designed to be maneuverable on unpredictable flight paths and fly at low altitudes. At Mach 5 and above, such a missile can cover the 195-kilometer distance between Pyongyang and Seoul…

As reported by the KCNA, the launch was in response to the second meeting of the “nuclear consultative group” which proposed a “large-scale joint exercise to prepare a ‘nuclear counterstrike’ against our Republic.” As we previously reported, at the event, the allies agreed on a plan to include nuclear operation scenarios in the 2024 military exercises, including the Ulchi Freedom Shield summer exercise. Kim Jong-un, his daughter and commanders from the DPRK’s General Department of Missile Engineering attended the drill: at 8:24 a.m…

On June 15, 2023, in response to a large-scale South Korean and USA live-fire exercise just 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border, North Korea launched two unspecified short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan-guyŏk area toward the Sea of Japan. Both rockets flew about 780 kilometers each before hitting the water. On the same day, a spokesman for the North Korean Defense Ministry told the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that the US and South Korea were “conducting hostile field training exercises against our Republic…