Global & US Headlines
Pyongyang Fires Ballistic and Hypersonic Missiles on Eve of Seoul-Beijing Summit
On 4 Jan 2026, North Korea unleashed multiple ballistic and hypersonic missiles that flew 900-1,000 km just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung departed for a state visit to Beijing, abruptly escalating regional tensions.
Focusing Facts
- South Korea’s Joint Chiefs detected the launches at 07:50 KST; at least two missiles travelled about 900 km toward the East Sea.
- KCNA said Kim Jong Un personally oversaw a hypersonic test that struck a target 1,000 km away, calling it vital to ‘expand a powerful and reliable nuclear deterrent.’
- The launches came less than 24 hours after a U.S. special-forces raid toppled Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and flew him to the United States.
Context
North Korea has long timed weapons tests to high-level diplomacy—most famously the 5 July 2006 Taepodong-2 launch that greeted the G-8 summit, and the 28 Nov 2017 Hwasong-15 shot that shadowed U.S.–China talks. January 2026 fits that pattern: Pyongyang signals leverage as Seoul seeks Chinese help and Washington flaunts power abroad. The episode illuminates two durable trends: (1) the steady qualitative jump from short-range rockets to claimed hypersonic systems that shrink response windows, and (2) Kim’s playbook of coupling condemnations of U.S. interventions (Iraq 2003, Libya 2011, now Venezuela 2026) with demonstrations meant to deter similar fate. On a century scale, each incremental range or speed gain edges Northeast Asia toward a normalized, multitiered nuclear standoff akin to the Cold War’s 1957-1962 arms race—unlikely to trigger immediate war but steadily hardening a security architecture that future diplomats will find ever harder to unwind.
Perspectives
North Korean state-run media
as relayed by outlets quoting KCNA, e.g., Devdiscourse, The Pioneer — Frames the U.S. strike in Venezuela as fresh proof of America’s “rogue” aggression and cites it to justify Pyongyang’s own missile tests as legitimate self-defence. Propaganda aims to deflect international criticism of the launches and rally domestic support by painting Washington as the real violator of sovereignty.
U.S. and allied mainstream outlets using Associated Press copy
PBS, Washington Times, Herald Journal — Stress that the ballistic-missile launches breach U.N. resolutions and threaten regional security, urging North Korea to halt provocations and return to talks. Coverage foregrounds the security risk to allies and the need for U.S. deterrence, granting far less scrutiny to how recent U.S. actions (e.g., in Venezuela) might influence Pyongyang’s behavior.
U.K. sensationalist tabloids
Express — Warn that the missile tests ignite ‘WW3 fears’ and present an immediate menace to Japan and the wider world. Hyperbolic language is designed to maximise clicks and anxiety, overstating imminent war while providing limited geopolitical context.