Analysts: North Korea tested a hypersonic weapon that is hard to detect and intercept

It appears North Korea tested a hypersonic weapon capable of evading missile defense systems, which could make tracking it an extremely difficult task, analysts said on Wednesday.

South Korea and Japan said Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday off its east coast, denouncing the launches as a threat to regional peace and security.

North Korea did not specify the type of weapon, saying only that its rocket bureau "successfully tested a new type of weapon" in a demonstration of what it called "state-of-the-art defensive technology."

Analysts said the weapon appears to be an upgraded version of the short-range ballistic and hypersonic missile "Hwasongpo-11 Ma-1."

Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said the hypersonic missile, with a range between 450 and 600 kilometers, "is designed to strike major military facilities across the Korean Peninsula in a very short period of time."

Images published by state media in Pyongyang showed leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae watching a screen displaying what appeared to be the missile's flight path, which was labeled "Hwasongpo-11 Ma-1 flight path."

This week the North Korean leader warned that the weapon's development would cause adversaries "a persistent, intractable headache and an inevitably severe blow," the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

Despite United Nations sanctions imposed on it for years, North Korea has enshrined its status as a nuclear-armed state in its laws, and its leaders have repeatedly said their nuclear arsenal is permanent and irreversible.

An Chan Il, a researcher originally from North Korea, said: "North Korea may exaggerate its capabilities, but it has clearly reached a stage where it is capable of launching weapons of this caliber."

Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said the hypersonic missile, with a range between 450 and 600 kilometers, "is designed to strike major military facilities across the Korean Peninsula in a very short period of time."

Images published by state media in Pyongyang showed leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae watching a screen displaying what appeared to be the missile's flight path, which was labeled "Hwasongpo-11 Ma-1 flight path."

This week the North Korean leader warned that the weapon's development would cause adversaries "a persistent, intractable headache and an inevitably severe blow," the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

Despite United Nations sanctions imposed on it for years, North Korea has enshrined its status as a nuclear-armed state in its laws, and its leaders have repeatedly said their nuclear arsenal is permanent and irreversible.

An Chan Il, a researcher originally from North Korea, said: "North Korea may exaggerate its capabilities, but it has clearly reached a stage where it is capable of launching weapons of this caliber."