In 2022, North Korea successfully tested a hypersonic missile, which is the first time that North Korea has demonstrated this advanced **, and it is also one of the few countries in the world that can develop hypersonic missiles. This move caused a strong reaction from the United States, and the White House immediately imposed sanctions on North Korea, which is the first time since Biden took office to impose sanctions on North Korea's research and development. The United States also asked South Korea to convey to North Korea its willingness to dialogue, while warning North Korea not to take further escalating actions. The United States also hopes that the Security Council will follow suit and exert more pressure on North Korea.
North Korea's hypersonic missile test launch shocked the United States and its allies Japan and South Korea, because this kind of speed and penetration capability poses a huge challenge to the US defense system. According to South Korean analysis, North Korea's hypersonic missiles can reach 10 times the speed of sound and have a range of 1,000 kilometers, which means that the bases of Japan, South Korea and the US military in both countries are within North Korea's strike range. Moreover, the flight time of this missile is very short, and South Korea even says that it will take only 1 minute to launch from the DPRK to the sky over Seoul. Although the United States is the most powerful military country in the world, it has not fully mastered the technology in the field of hypersonic missiles, and the United States has always regarded China and Russia as its main competitors, and the emergence of North Korea has affected the strategic plans of the United States.
Before North Korea tested a hypersonic missile, South Korea had proposed to use the Beijing Winter Olympics as an opportunity to announce an "end-of-war declaration" on the peninsula with North Korea, a proposal supported by China and Russia, and South Korea also reached an agreement with the United States to wait for North Korea's response. However, North Korea replied with hypersonic missiles, suggesting that North Korea does not believe that the United States will change its hostile policy toward North Korea or that the United States will abide by its commitments to the "end-of-war declaration" because the United States has a precedent of tearing up the agreement. Therefore, the DPRK believes that only by possessing sufficient force can it protect its own security and make the United States rein in its relations with the DPRK. North Korea's hypersonic missiles are a powerful deterrent to the United States.
On the Korean Peninsula issue, China and Russia have always maintained a consistent position and advocated promoting the political settlement process on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and consultation. China also opposes the imposition of unilateral sanctions by the United States on the DPRK, believing that this will not help solve the problem and will only intensify confrontation. China calls on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that aggravate the situation. It is worth noting that the U.S. sanctions list against North Korea also includes a Russian company, which the United States accuses of providing "critical technology" for North Korea's missile program. This is another time that the United States has put pressure on Russia on the DPRK-related issue. Due to the tension between Russia and Ukraine, the relationship between the United States and Russia is already very bad, and this move by the United States will undoubtedly intensify the confrontation between the United States and Russia. It remains to be seen how Russia will respond.