Is the newly-launched North Korean missile test significant?

North Korea recently test-fired a brand new and self-made hypersonic missile, participating in the long-drawn race for the most powerful military nations to operate around the most innovative weapons system in the world.  

The newly launched missile, named as Hwasong-8, comes with a band of guidance fins at its base near its nose cone. According to the scientists associated with this launch, the missile’s navigational control and stability were ideal. This is why it has been termed as a “strategic weapon” from the point of view of North Korea who took a few steps forward with this defence system. 

What are hypersonic missiles? 
Hypersonic missiles, as opposed to traditional arms mechanism, are groundbreaking weapons that are used to prevent enemies from having any reaction time. In a way, these missiles defeat them then and there. They have a record speed of five times the speed of sound, around 6200 km/hour. 

While ballistic missiles fly into outer space and then find their way back to steep trajectories, hypersonic missiles fly directly towards the target at even minimum altitudes.  

How powerful is North Korea’s missile? 
North Korea’s hypersonic missile although showed a lot of potential is still in its early stages and needs to be considerably developed for real-time use. Judging by its velocity and other data, it will still need a few more years to be combat-ready. However, the weapon did meet all the major technical requirements like launching stability, easy mobility and other important flight features including “detached hypersonic gliding warhead.” 

How does the missile launch help North Korea? 
This missile launch by North Korea could mean that the nation is close to being ready to participate in the power and arms race that already involves USA, Russia and China. In fact, according to some sources, North Korea is soon to upgrade this missile to deliver nuclear potential.  

However, certain experts aren’t much convinced with North Korea’s new mission and tagged it as a supposed failure. According to these experts, the HGV technology deployed by North Korea isn’t even close to the ones used by the other military powers like China or USA, and can at the most compete with the likes of Japan or South Korea.  

What does this missile launch mean for Korea? 
With this missile launch, it is now evident that both North and South Koreas are gradually moving towards a destructive weapons race inside their already divided peninsula. But this may also affect the neighbouring countries like China and Japan, making things difficult for them politically.  

Earlier, in 1950, the nuclear-strong North Korea had invaded South Korea, which made them both fall under multiple international sanctions (enforced by the United Nations) that prohibited their further use of nuclear weaponry or engagement in ballistic missile missions. However, it is slowly getting clear that North Korea no longer intends to follow the age-old sanctions imposed on it and is thereby test-launching back-to-back missiles, including this hypersonic weapon and another long-range cruise missile.  

In fact, reports further suggest that this has been North Korea’s plan for few years now, as this hypersonic missile was one among five “top priority” missions in their five-year strategic weapons policy.