Seoul successfully test-fires first hypersonic missile, days after North Korea

South Korea successfully test-fired its first hypersonic missile system on Thursday, overseen by President Lee Jae Myung.Seoul's presidential office reported the missile as a glide vehicle that flies at low altitudes.The missile is a "strategic asset" for the country, capable of a surprise attack on the target because of its unpredictable flight paths and overwhelming speed, the presidential office said.President Lee asked the missile researchers at a state-run institute to swiftly develop and deploy the missile following its successful test, his office said.Seoul's test came days after Pyongyang conducted its own test of an intermediate-range, hypersonic missile.North Korea announced on Sunday that it had launched a hypersonic missile with leader Kim Jong Un looking on, presenting the exercise as proof that its nuclear deterrent can be relied upon. As per the state news agency KCNA, the weapon was lifted off on Saturday from the country's eastern region and hit a target in waters off the east coast, about 1,000 km (621 miles) from where it was fired.Kim Yo Jong, the sister of Kim Jong Un and a high-ranking Workers' Party official, had asserted that Seoul and Tokyo were unable to follow the missile's flight, claiming that its unusual "wave-like trajectory mode" had exposed weaknesses in their ability to track it.South Korea's defence ministry, however, said on Sunday that its military had been closely watching the preparations for the launch, spotted and followed the missile right after it left the ground, and precisely determined the site it was fired from.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.