South Korea accuses Pyongyang of firing an ‘unidentified projectile’ into the Sea of Japan
Tensions between the two Koreas have risen following the injury of three South Korean soldiers, who were hit by the explosion of two landmines in the Demilitarised Zone controlled by Seoul, which has served as a buffer zone since the 1953 armistice
North Korea has fired an “unidentified projectile” into the Sea of Japan. The South Korean military made the announcement just a few days after Seoul tested its first hypersonic missile system. “North Korea has launched an unidentified projectile into the East Sea,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan. This launch follows the test carried out on Thursday by Seoul using a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), the first weapon of its kind to be produced domestically.
Missiles and Artificial Intelligence
Hypersonic glide vehicles are launched into the upper atmosphere by rocket engines, before plunging towards their target at a speed at least five times the speed of sound. The test, in turn, followed the launch of a North Korean intermediate-range hypersonic missile which, according to Pyongyang, had utilised artificial intelligence. That missile, launched on 3 October, “is capable of altering its flight path at low altitude and has been fitted with artificial intelligence”, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, stated at the time.
New tensions between the two Koreas
A few days later, Seoul announced the successful testing of its first domestically produced hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV): a weapon carried into the upper atmosphere by rocket engines or ballistic missiles, before gliding towards its targets. Tensions between the two Koreas have risen following the injury of three South Korean soldiers, who were hit by the explosion of two landmines in the area of the Demilitarised Zone controlled by Seoul, which has served as a buffer zone since the 1953 armistice.
