NEAR MISS
North Korea fires new hypersonic missile towards sea as Kim Jong-un ramps up weapons testing sparking WW3 fears
THERE are fears Kim Jong-un is accelerating his bid for World War Three after the tin-pot dictator fired a new hypersonic missile.
The tyrant hopes to increase the renegade regime's defence capabilities a "thousand-fold", announced its state media.
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Tuesday morning's missile firing comes after North Korea's ambassador told the UN in a chilling warning that no one will deny Pyongyang's right to test weapons.
And it could crush hopes of a move forward with South Korea - just days after Kim's powerful sister Kim Yo-jong expressed willingness to engage in talks.
North Korea successfully tested a new hypersonic gliding missile, state media reported Wednesday, in what would be the nuclear-armed nation's latest advance in weapons technology.
Tuesday's launch was of "great strategic significance", the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) added.
US military chiefs say they're aware of the missile being fired, but added that it posed no immediate threat to US personnel or its allies.
However, the US Indo-Pacific Command said the launch "highlighted the destabilising impact of [North Korea's] illicit weapons program".
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And the Japanese defence ministry reportedly claimed the projectile may have been a ballistic missile, which is banned under UN sanctions.
South Korean president Moon Jae-in has ordered an immediate probe of the launch by Seoul's National Security Council.
Just a few days ago, Ms Kim said North Korea was open to formally ending the Korean War. However, she warned the South needed to stop its "hostile policies" first.
Shortly after the latest launch, North Korea's envoy Kim Song spoke at the annual UN General Assembly in New York.
He said the North had a right to "develop, test, manufacture and possess" weapons systems - and the country is "building up our national defence in order to defend ourselves".
Less than a fortnight ago, new satellite pictures were released appearing to show that the rogue state is building up supplies of uranium at a new construction site at the Yongbyon nuclear research centre.
Jeffery Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, suggested that a new expansion of the facility could increase production of weapons-grade material by 25 per cent.
Meanwhile, the country fired a cruise missile which could have nuclear capability earlier this month.
FEARS OF WAR
The projectile's range is so deadly that it could be capable of reaching Japan.
The move prompted the US to warn of the "threat" the country poses.
North Korea is facing food shortages, and has spent more than a year in isolation.
It shut its borders to keep out Covid, effectively cutting off trade with its closest ally China.
Despite the nation's hunger, the weapons programme continues apace.
In August, the UN atomic agency said North Korea appeared to have restarted a reactor which could produce plutonium for nuclear weapons, calling it a "deeply troubling" development.
'WE'RE ON THE BRINK'
Ned Price, the US state department spokesman, said the Biden administration was committed to dialogue with the country.
However, America has so far met by taunts and threats from Jong-un, who maintains that he is still preparing for military “confrontation.”
And UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this week that humanity is on the brink of "nuclear annihilation".
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The threat is the highest it's been in 40 years as the nuclear arms race has the globe teetering "unacceptably close" to mass atomic destruction, he warned.
The official has previously raised concerns that China, North Korea and the US, among a string of other countries, haven't yet endorsed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
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Moment North Korea fires bizarre railway-borne missile system in latest weapons test
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