North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a missile launch alongside his daughter, according to state media reports on Sunday. The reports indicated that the missile employed artificial intelligence to adjust its trajectory during flight.
Typically, state media does not provide such detailed accounts of missile tests. Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s influential sister, claimed that the technology enables the missile to modify its flight path at low altitudes, declaring the attack “impossible to evade,” as reported by AFP.
She further asserted that South Korea and Japan failed to track the missile’s flight, citing a “special wavy trajectory” that revealed limitations in their tracking capabilities.
The state news agency KCNA announced that the intermediate-range strategic missile, part of a hypersonic weapons system, was launched from eastern North Korea on Saturday, striking a target approximately 1,000 km away off the country’s eastern coast, according to Reuters.
The missile was launched from an area near the coastal city of Wonsan and traveled over 700 kilometers, as stated by the South Korean military.
Following the launch, Kim Jong Un emphasized the professionalism and readiness of the strategic missile units, according to an English-language statement from the official North Korean news agency KCNA.
“We must continue our responsible efforts so that the enemy consistently recognizes the reliability and lethality of our strategic attack means,” he added.
Details Released by North Korean State Media
The South Korean military contested Kim Yo Jong’s statements, asserting that the missile launched could have been intercepted.
According to a statement from the South Korean Defense Ministry, “South Korea and the United States maintain a strong joint defense posture and consider that the missile recently launched by North Korea was largely within the detection and interception range of the defense systems deployed by the two allies.”
State media provided exceptionally precise details, which analysts noted is uncommon, indicating North Korea’s confidence. KCNA disclosed the exact coordinates of the missile’s impact point, achieving an accuracy level of approximately 30 centimeters, as explained by Hong Min from the Korean Institute for National Unification.
Possible Explanation for Unusual Detail Disclosure
Hong Min suggested that this unusual level of detail aimed to support North Korea’s claim that the missile traveled around 1,000 km and to highlight perceived deficiencies in South Korean and Japanese tracking systems, as reported by Reuters.
The missile appeared to be a cone-shaped hypersonic system, tested for the first time in 2022, indicating North Korea may be transitioning from the testing phase to operational deployment.
This year alone, North Korea has conducted over 10 missile tests.
Images released by KCNA show a missile soaring into the sky amid orange flames. Another image depicts Kim Jong Un smiling alongside his daughter, Ju Ae, and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, who is seen applauding.
Ju Ae, introduced to the public in 2022, is considered a likely successor to her father, according to South Korean intelligence, which emphasizes her increasingly prominent role in major official ceremonies and military events.
