North Korea’s Kim Unveils New Hypersonic Missile, Warns Enemies Of ‘Incurable Headache’

North Korea on Tuesday unveiled a new weapons system it described as an “ultra-modern” defence technology, with images indicating that Sunday’s test involved a missile previously identified as the Hwasong-11Ma, which Pyongyang has described as hypersonic. Leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw the test with his teenage daughter Kim Ju Ae and said the technology would strengthen the country’s war readiness and give its enemies an “incurable headache”.

North Korea did not officially identify the weapon, but analysts believe it may be an upgraded Hwasong-11-series short-range ballistic missile fitted with a hypersonic glide vehicle. Such weapons are designed to travel at more than five times the speed of sound while maneuvering during flight, potentially making them harder to intercept. North Korea has claimed hypersonic capabilities in previous tests, although experts have questioned whether it has consistently achieved the speeds and manoeuvrability it claims. A North Korean monitoring screen reportedly showed a flight distance of 908.2 km, while South Korea assessed the two September 20 launches at about 450 km and more than 600 km. Both landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

The launches prompted a coordinated response from South Korea, the US and Japan. Seoul said it was closely monitoring Pyongyang and maintained readiness to respond under its combined defence posture with Washington. Japan condemned the launches as violations of UN Security Council resolutions, while Washington said it was consulting allies and assessed that the launches posed no new threat to US personnel or territory or its partners.

The test was North Korea’s latest military demonstration following a September 5 firepower exercise involving ballistic and cruise missiles, large-calibre rockets and artillery. Pyongyang has continued such displays despite US efforts to revive dialogue, including the scaling back of military exercises with South Korea.

North Korea has rejected demands for denuclearisation. Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong has dismissed calls for denuclearisation, while Pyongyang demands that Washington end what it calls its “hostile policy”, including sanctions and military drills.

China is way ahead of the other competitors in the hypersonic race, with the US Department of Defense describing it as having the world’s leading hypersonic missile arsenal. A 2026 IISS assessment, citing US intelligence estimates, puts China’s inventory of systems in the broader “boosted hypersonic” category at around 600, compared with 200–300 for Russia. Russia has fielded systems including Avangard, Kinzhal and Zircon, while the US is still working to move its major hypersonic programmes into wider operational deployment, after facing technical, testing and production challenges. Outside estimates of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal vary widely, with some assessments placing its warhead stockpile at around 60 or more, while the precise size remains uncertain. India also does not have a publicly confirmed operational stockpile, but is rapidly developing indigenous hypersonic weapons and achieved a major milestone in May 2026 with a 1,200-second scramjet combustor test by DRDO.

The latest test also came ahead of major diplomatic activity at the UN General Assembly and amid US-South Korea-Japan coordination on Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.

Alongside the weapons push, Kim has ordered officials to modernise North Korea’s propaganda and ideological campaign, including greater use of modern information technology to block what Pyongyang calls “reactionary ideological culture”.