SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea renewed its attack on South Korea's recent hypersonic weapon test Friday, rejecting Seoul's explanation that advanced materials prevented the weapon from showing burn marks and using the South's weapons development to justify its own arms buildup.
The latest dispute comes as the two Koreas offer conflicting assessments of the technology demonstrated in South Korea's first test launch of a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) on Oct. 8. North Korea initially questioned the test's success, arguing the vehicle must have failed to reach hypersonic speeds because photos showed no soot on its surface.
Seoul's defense ministry countered that the vehicle was equipped with advanced thermal-protection technology and that visible soot was not necessarily expected during hypersonic flight.
On Friday, Pyongyang fired back at the defense, calling Seoul's explanation "far-fetched."
"It's not a matter of heat-resistant materials or thermal protection performance," Kim Jong-sik, a vice department head of the Workers' Party Central Committee, said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
Seoul made "the far-fetched claim that it was 'thanks to the excellent performance of domestically developed heat-resistant materials,' but no country's technology can prevent paint from burning off due to a rise in surface temperature caused by aerodynamic heating," Kim argued.
Criticizing South Korea's plan to further develop technologies for weaponizing hypersonic glide vehicles, he said, "The confrontational ambitions of our vicious enemies have provided us with the most reasonable justification for strengthening our defense capabilities."
The test came amid heightened inter-Korean tensions following a recent land mine explosion in the border area that injured three South Korean soldiers.
The test was intended to evaluate high-temperature thermal protection materials, guidance and control systems, and the vehicle's ability to maneuver unpredictably at low altitudes.
South Korea test-fires a hypersonic glide vehicle from the Agency for Defense Development for the first time on Oct. 8, 2026, in this file photo provided by Cheong Wa Dae. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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