North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw what state media called the test of a new hypersonic weapon on Sunday, September 20, 2026, with his teenage daughter Kim Ju Ae at his side, the CBS News reported Monday, citing the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Photographs released by KCNA showed Kim and Kim Ju Ae, widely reported as a possible future leader, inspecting a monitoring screen with a label reading “Hwasongpho-11Ma-1 flight trajectory,” according to CBS. The KCNA-quoted designation points to an upgraded short-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic-capable glide vehicle.
KCNA said the weapon system tested September 20 would be “of great significance” to the country’s military modernization. In a statement released Monday, September 21, the agency quoted Kim Jong Un as saying the test “has weighty significance in the state’s readiness for war and the future development of the armed forces.” The statement added that the demonstration “reflects progress in modernizing the armed forces” and showcases “ultra-modern defense technology.” Kim described the weapon as giving enemies an “incurable headache and a very cruel and unavoidable blow,” a phrase South Korean media framed as a direct threat aimed at Washington and Seoul.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the launches on Monday and urged caution, telling reporters that the systems appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles carrying hypersonic-capable glide vehicles. No damage or casualties were reported, and the launches caused no disruption to regional aviation or shipping, according to the CBS report. Japan’s government confirmed the missiles did not enter its territorial waters or exclusive economic zone, with Tokyo defense officials saying they were tracking the launches in real time.
Independent analysts told CBS the Hwasongpho-11Ma-1 label suggests an upgraded version of an existing North Korean short-range ballistic missile, retrofitted with a hypersonic glide vehicle. Hypersonic weapons can generally fly lower and faster than conventional rockets, making them more difficult to intercept with U.S. and allied missile defenses. The Hwasong-11 short-range ballistic missile platform was first tested in 2019, according to open-source weapons analysis. North Korea has tested various hypersonic weapons systems since 2021, the CBS report said, as Kim has pushed to upgrade the country’s nuclear and conventional capabilities.
The test comes as the U.S. and South Korea are renegotiating the terms of their military alliance. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is expected to lay out plans to improve relations with Pyongyang at the U.N. General Assembly this week, including a proposal to drop Seoul’s longstanding demand that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons as a precondition for talks, CBS reported. Lee has suggested instead a freeze on further nuclear weapons testing or development by the North, at least initially. U.S. President Trump has said he would be interested in meeting with Kim, possibly around the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, in November, with the White House suggesting talks could be held “without any preconditions.” Trump last month scaled back the annual joint U.S.-South Korea military drills, which he called “hostile” to Pyongyang.
Independent estimates of North Korea’s nuclear stockpile vary widely. South Korea’s government has put the figure at between 80 and 120 warheads; Trump recently said the North had 57 nuclear warheads. North Korea has given no indication of interest in a new round of talks with either Trump or Lee, despite Trump’s move on the military drills, CBS reported. North Korea has deepened military ties with Russia and China in recent years, including reports of arms transfers to Russia for use in Ukraine, according to U.S. and South Korean assessments. Open-source weapons-program analysis and reporting from the U.S.-funded 38 North program have tracked those relationships closely.
Independent verification of the Hwasongpho-11Ma-1’s exact performance data remains limited due to North Korea’s extreme secrecy. The technical specifications KCNA has released for previous hypersonic tests have routinely over-stated capabilities compared with U.S. and South Korean assessments. The pattern of public weapons demonstrations often coincides with diplomatic milestones, the analysts told CBS, and the September 20 test came as Lee prepared to address the U.N. General Assembly and as Trump signaled renewed interest in a personal meeting with Kim. A trial date for the new weapon’s operational deployment has not been disclosed.
Read also Hypefresh’s earlier coverage of a streamer’s documented journey into North Korea and the ghost-town reality of the country’s interior, the death of a South Korean YouTuber after ingesting poison during a livestream, and Hypefresh’s reporting on the North Korea-Sweden $330 million Volvo debt dispute for further context on how North Korea operates in the international system.
