The ballistic missile launched by North Korea during the visit by the US Secretary of State to Seoul on Monday resembles a hypersonic missile in its characteristics, according to an officer of the Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean Armed Forces, reports Yonhap news agency.

According to the South Korean side, around noon local time, North Korea launched a ballistic missile, believed to be medium-range, from the territory of Pyongyang towards the Sea of Japan, and it traveled about 1,100 km.

Although the flight distance was found to be shorter than the typical ranges of medium-range missiles, between 3,000 and 5,500 km, it is believed to be similar to North Korea's medium-range missiles carrying a hypersonic warhead. They were launched in January and April 2024, said the member of the aforementioned committee, reports Yonhap.

If this assumption is confirmed, the flight distance of the current launch will be the largest during the testing of similar missiles in North Korea, added the news agency.