South Korea Flight-Tests Its First Hypersonic Glide Vehicle, Presidential Office Says

South Korea conducted the first test launch of a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) on Thursday, October 8, the presidential office said, with President Lee Jae Myung observing the test in person alongside the defense minister. The office did not say where the launch took place.

In a written briefing, the presidential spokesperson said the vehicle separated from its booster at the planned altitude, then maneuvered vertically and horizontally before hitting a test target. "The HGV successfully separated from its booster and seamlessly executed its planned flight path under hypersonic conditions," the briefing said. According to the statement, the test verified core hypersonic technologies: flight trajectories and speed, super-high-temperature thermal protection materials, guidance and control, and irregular maneuverability at low altitude.

The weapon is designed to fly at least five times the speed of sound and to evade missile defenses, the Associated Press reported. The presidential office called it a "game-changing strategic asset capable of launching surprise precision strikes" and said that, once developed, it would be able to strike key targets "by surprise" in the "Korean Peninsula theater of operations." The test reportedly took place from a barge inside an Agency for Defense Development test center in Taean, about 130 km south of Seoul, the Korea Times reported. The government released neither the speed nor the range achieved, nor a program name or a deployment date.

Lee said South Korea "must secure our security through our own strength," according to AP. "The government will fully support the development and operational deployment of advanced weaponry so that our people can live without concern," he said, as quoted by the Korea Times. After the test, Lee inspected the Hyunmoo-5 surface-to-surface missile, described as a "bunker buster." The Korea Times noted it was the first time the government had officially used the name "Hyunmoo-5" in a press statement; until now the weapon had been referred to only as a "high-power missile."

The test comes amid heightened tension with North Korea. On September 21, a land mine explosion on the South's side of the Military Demarcation Line injured South Korean soldiers; Seoul determined the mines had been planted by North Korean troops, while Pyongyang denies responsibility, the Korea Times reported. Five days before the South's launch, on October 3, North Korea said its hypersonic intermediate-range missile had flown more than 1,000 km, a figure South Korea estimated at over 700 km and Japan's Defense Ministry at about 680 km, according to AP. North Korea had not immediately responded to Thursday's test, AP reported.

GlobalMilitary.net's missile database lists hypersonic glide systems in service with three countries. Russia's Avangard has been in service since 2019. China's DF-17 entered service the same year, and the US Army's Dark Eagle followed in 2025. China's DF-27 and North Korea's Hwasong-8 are listed as in development. South Korea's inventory in GMN data includes the Hyunmoo-2, Hyunmoo-4 and Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missiles, along with the Hyunmoo-3 cruise missile. South Korea ranks 5th in GlobalMilitary.net's global military power ranking, with an ATLAS index of 60.13; North Korea ranks 17th at 44.98.