Kim Jong Un smokes a cigarette as he oversees the launch of his ‘new hypersonic missile’ and ramps up North Korea’s nuclear standoff with the US

Kim Jong Un was seen happily puffing on a cigarette as he oversaw the launch of a new hypersonic missile.

The North Korean dictator wore an all-black outfit as he smoked a cigarette ahead of the test fire of Hwasong-16B, a new type of intermediate-range ballistic missile loaded with a newly developed hypersonic sliding warhead. .

The launch took place on Tuesday at a secret location in North Korea, but the photos were shared today.

After the test, Kim said North Korea has developed the ability to build solid-fuel missiles and nuclear weapons of any range as he pursues an arsenal that can credibly threaten rivals in Asia and the United States.

State media said the test was overseen by Kim, who described the Hwasong-16B missile as a key part of his nuclear deterrent that he vowed to further build to combat his “enemies,” a reference to the United States, South -Korea and Japan.

In recent years, North Korea has increasingly developed rockets with built-in solid propellants. Such weapons are easier to move and conceal, and can be launched more quickly than liquid propellant rockets, which must be fueled before launch and cannot be fueled for extended periods of time.

North Korea tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time last year, adding to its arsenal of long-range weapons aimed at the US mainland.

The country also has an extensive range of short- and medium-range solid-fuel missiles that can be fired from land vehicles, ships and submarines and could potentially hit targets throughout South Korea and Japan.

In recent months, the North demonstrated some of these missiles in exercises it described as simulated nuclear attacks.

Since 2021, hypersonic weapons designed to fly at more than five times the speed of sound have also been tested.

If such systems are perfected, they could potentially pose a challenge to regional missile defense systems due to their speed and maneuverability. However, it is unclear whether these missiles consistently fly at the speeds the North claims.

North Korea’s official media KCNA claimed that the missile’s hypersonic glide warhead reached a peak altitude of 100 kilometers during the Tuesday test and flew about 1,000 kilometers after detaching from the launcher, performing several maneuvers before landing in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan. .

But the South Korean military said the North is exaggerating the success of the test and its overall missile prowess.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday maintained their assessment that the missile traveled about 600 kilometers and accused North Korea of ​​exaggerating the missile’s flight performance, although they acknowledged that the North’s technologies were improving.

The day before, Japan reported a similar flight distance, although the Defense Ministry reported a maximum altitude close to that claimed by the North.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it remains unclear whether the North has perfected the technologies to ensure that the warheads of its hypersonic solid-fuel missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry.

“Hysonic missiles are weapon systems that are still being developed by advanced countries (the United States, China and Russia, etc.) and require very difficult technologies,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters.

‘It is difficult to predict when they will be operationally deployed, but it is expected that this will take quite some time.’

The North also tested a so-called hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile in January, years after testing liquid-fueled IRBMs. Experts say such weapons, if perfected, could potentially reach remote UA targets in the Pacific.

“North Korea’s development of hypersonic IRBMs is targeting Guam, where US military bases are located, and even Alaska,” said Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at South Korea’s Research Institute for National Strategy.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said the missile tested Tuesday was likely different from the one tested in January, which was not named by state media, but was likely the Hwasong -16A was.

North Korea has unveiled two different types of hypersonic vehicles in previous tests: one conical and one wedge-shaped. Images in state media show the January launch involved a conical warhead, while the wedge-shaped design was used for Tuesday’s launch.

Tensions in the region have increased since 2022 as Kim used Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a distraction to accelerate his testing of missiles and other weapons. The United States and South Korea have responded by expanding their combined training and trilateral exercises involving Japan and sharpening their deterrence strategies, which are built around strategic U.S. assets.

Hours after the launch, Seoul’s Defense Ministry announced that South Korea, the United States and Japan conducted a combined air exercise over water near the South Korean island of Jeju, involving at least one U.S. nuclear-capable B-52 bomber was involved.