South Korea carried out its first test launch of a domestically developed hypersonic glide vehicle on Thursday, Oct. 8, in what the presidential office called a major step toward a new deterrent against North Korea. President Lee Jae Myung watched the launch in person, along with Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul and other officials.
A hypersonic glide vehicle is launched on a booster rocket that carries it into the upper atmosphere. It then separates and glides at lower altitudes at speeds of at least five times the speed of sound, which makes it harder for missile defence systems to track and intercept. According to presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung, the vehicle separated from its booster as planned, descended, made horizontal and vertical course adjustments, and hit its target. The test was meant to verify flight trajectories, speed, heat-resistant materials, guidance and control systems, and low-altitude manoeuvrability. The office did not disclose the location, though Yonhap news agency reported it took place on a barge at a test centre of the Agency for Defense Development in Taean, about 130 kilometres south of Seoul.
The launch came amid sharply raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula. On Sept. 21, land mine explosions on the South's side of the Military Demarcation Line, the border between the two Koreas, injured South Korean soldiers. Reports differ on the number: Yonhap says two were severely hurt, while other outlets say three were injured. South Korea's military and the US-led United Nations Command concluded that North Korean troops planted the mines. Pyongyang denies responsibility, ridiculed Seoul's demand for an apology, and has threatened retaliation if the South takes countermeasures.
On Oct. 3, North Korea tested what it called a hypersonic intermediate-range missile, with leader Kim Jong Un in attendance. Pyongyang said it flew more than 1,000 km, while Seoul measured about 700 km and Japan about 680 km. Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said the differing figures showed South Korea and Japan cannot properly track such missiles and so could not intercept them. North Korea had not responded to Thursday's test at the time of reporting.
Lee said South Korea "must secure our security through our own strength" and promised full government support for developing and deploying advanced weapons. After the test he inspected the Hyunmoo-5, a heavy "bunker buster" ballistic missile nicknamed the "monster missile"; it was the first time the government officially used that name, after earlier referring to it only as a "high-power missile".
The tests matter politically as well as militarily. Lee favours engagement with Pyongyang and has tempered his rhetoric, drawing criticism at home for a passive response to the mine blasts. He has also called for less reliance on the United States, which scaled back a major joint exercise with the South in August. Kim has so far rejected US President Donald Trump's calls to revive diplomacy that collapsed in 2019. His government demands that Washington drop its "hostile" policy and its insistence on denuclearisation as a precondition for talks.