North Korea Fires Suspected Hypersonic Missile Flying 1,100 km Ahead of Trump's Inauguration

Jan 6, 2025, 03:55 AM

North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast on Monday, according to South Korea's military. The missile, suspected to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile or possibly a hypersonic missile, was launched from near Pyongyang around noon and flew approximately 1,100 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 100 kilometers and reached speeds of up to Mach 11 before landing outside Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan. This marks North Korea's first missile launch in two months, ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. President on January 20. The Japanese Ministry of Defense and South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported the launch, prompting emergency meetings in both countries to assess the situation.