The Republic of Korea (ROK) has announced the development of the Hycore hypersonic missile in response to North Korean Hypersonic Missile tests, according to the Korean website “Hani.co.kr”. Many international news outlets reported this week on North Korea’s successful launch of a hypersonic missile that could pose a threat to the ROK and other Asian countries.
This is the first official confirmation that ROK is working on hypersonic weapons. In December 2020, the ROK Defence Ministry announced that it intended to make a “requirement decision” about hypersonic warheads to provide strategic deterrence against the threat of various weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, in a military-wide meeting of senior commanders in December 2020.
The Hycore hypersonic missile was developed in collaboration with the ROK Agency for Defence Development (ADD) and the company Hanwha Defence and unveiled in December 2021.
According to open sources information, the design of the missile will be similar to the X-51 Waverider hypersonic. The missile includes a two-stage solid-fuelled booster and scramjet engine. The first tests of the missile are scheduled for 2022.
