North Korea just said it has a missile that nothing can stop
1 hour ago · 3 October 2026Share
North Korea's ballistic missile displayed during North Korea Victory Day in 2013. File photo. Stefan Krasowski · CC BY 2.0
North Korea just fired a missile it says no country can stop.
The missile went up from the Wonsan coast early this morning. It flew more than 700 kilometres before coming down in the Sea of Japan, which Korea calls the East Sea. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff picked it up as it happened.
About 15 hours ago, Kim Yo Jong confirmed the test. She's the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. She called it an intermediate-range strategic missile.
And then she made a statement. She said the missile has artificial intelligence built into it. She said it can change its flight path at low altitude. So, she says, defence systems can't shoot it down.
Kim Yo Jong says quote "there is no way to avoid the missile's attack."
That's North Korea's own government saying it has a weapon current missile defences cannot stop.
Nobody outside North Korea has confirmed that.
Hong Sung-pyo is a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs in Seoul. He says it's too early to know if the claim is true. He also says North Korea's missile technology isn't especially advanced compared with the world's biggest military powers.
But here's the thing. He also says AI is turning up more and more in military technology everywhere. And he points to Ukraine and Iran. Both wars have shown that linking AI to drones and missiles can make them work better.
So the claim is unverified. But it isn't impossible either.
What nobody has said is how the AI actually works. Nobody has said whether this missile is ready to use, or still being built and tested. No government has independently checked whether it would actually dodge an interceptor.
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Contains USGS data showing the intensity of the 2013 North Korean nuclear test. File photo. USGS · Public domain
South Korea treated it as serious. Its presidential national security office called an emergency meeting straight after the launch. Its military raised its alert level in case of more tests. South Korea says it will share intelligence on the launch with the United States and Japan.
Japan sent out an emergency alert warning that North Korea had launched a suspected ballistic missile. Japan's Defense Ministry later said the missile landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. It says it's still watching the situation.
The United States took the calmer line. US Pacific Command says the launch does not pose an immediate threat to American troops, territory or allies.
And this didn't come out of nowhere.
A few days before the launch, South Korea's military had demanded an apology from North Korea. That's over a landmine blast at the DMZ last month that wounded three South Korean soldiers. South Korea and the US-led United Nations Command found the blast was caused by North Korean mines, laid on the southern side of the border.
Kim Yo Jong rejected that demand the day before the launch. Outlets report her words slightly differently, but she dismissed the apology call in harsh terms. She said North Korea intends to cut ties with the South for good.
So Seoul asked for an apology. Pyongyang answered with a missile test, and a statement no country has made before.
It's not an isolated test either. North Korea has run a string of military displays in recent weeks. A hypersonic missile test it said it carried out. Live-fire drills. The commissioning of a new warship. Kim Jong Un oversaw all of it.
So what happens next depends on one thing. Whether anyone else can verify the statement.
Right now, the only account of what this missile can do comes from the government that built it.
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