Hypersonic Missiles Highlight Arms Race on the Korean Peninsula

Seoul and Pyongyang have now tested weapons that military planners fear, due to their speed and in-flight maneuverability.

15/10/2026 15 October 2026 Both South and North Korea have tested weapons that military planners fear because of their speed and maneuverability in flight.

North Korea said on Wednesday it had test-fired two types of submarine-launched cruise missiles off its east coast — a day after South Korea's ambassador to the state, Arjan, reported that leader Kim Jong-un had visited a new defense industry museum, where he admired an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reportedly hit targets in the continental United States.

The visit came five days after South Korean President Lee Jae-myung witnessed the test launch of his country's first hypersonic missile.

South Korea's success came after Pyongyang announced on Oct. 3 that it had test-fired a supersonic intermediate-range missile that traveled 350 kilometers (220 miles) before hitting its target.

KCNA reported: "Comrade Kim Jong Un expressed his expectation and belief that all the country's missile forces will remain faithful to their missions in defending the sovereignty and security of the Republic in a responsible combat situation."

Both North and South Korea are primarily racing to develop hypersonic technology as it enhances offensive capabilities at a time of heightened tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.

Hypersonic missiles are weapons that can travel at a speed of at least five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) or more than 6100 kilometers per hour.

Their speed makes it more difficult for defenders to detect, track and destroy incoming missiles that can carry conventional or nuclear warheads. Their additional advantage over previous generations of missiles is their ability to suddenly change course, dip or weave in flight, making interception significantly more difficult.

"There has been an arms race on the Korean Peninsula for years, and hypersonic weapons are the latest manifestation of that," said Chris Green, a Korean Peninsula analyst for the International Crisis Group.

He said hypersonic weapons had become a "priority for the South" as the North increased its capabilities and built military and economic ties with Russia.

"And North Korea has nuclear weapons, but it's not possible to use them because the threat has always been that to do so would mean that the United States would turn the country into glass," he told DW.

Unsurprisingly for the North, the region's geopolitics has encouraged them to pursue advanced conventional weapons as they strive to dominate the peninsula.

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And while it can't be confirmed with certainty that the weapons the North says it has developed have the capabilities they claim, Green said that's wrong. Underestimate Pyongyang.

"We don't know what they're capable of and it could all be hype, but there's a long list of times when the North's capabilities have been underestimated to show that they can actually do what they say."

As In Boom, a retired South Korean army general and now a senior fellow at the National Institute for Deterrence Studies, shares this assessment of the threat.

"Whether they're right about this is anyone's guess, but any prudent military planner should always assume the worst," he said.

North Korea's mastery of the advanced technology needed to use hypersonic missiles appears to have been sudden, although it remains unclear how it achieved this capability.

"They probably obtained the technology through illegal means," Chun said. "They look to companies in the US, South Korea and Japan for this kind of information, but they also do it with their 'friends.'"

Wherever this data came from, the fact that North Korea's hypersonic missiles appear to have performed as intended should cause deep concern.

"More offensive capability increases the overall threat posed by the North, and if they have weapons that are harder to shoot down, there may be more temptations to use them," Chun said.

"Of course I'm speculating, but I'm sure we're looking at ways to neutralize this particular threat, but as I understand it there's not a good answer right now," Chun adds.

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Greene, however, believes that both sides developing viable systems means they may offset each other as a strong battlefield advantage.

"I don't think it will change the balance of power," he said. The expert added: "The North still has its nuclear deterrent and this 'barbed strategy' which is sharp and barbed to keep others together."

"However, it is clear that if North Korea continues to develop its offensive systems and is able to deploy them in large numbers, there will have to be discussions about more missile defense not only in the South, but also in Japan, and then very difficult questions will arise."