North Korea hypersonic missile claims: BBC Learning English from the News

From BBC Learning English,

this is 'Learning English from the News' our podcast about the news headlines.

In this programme, North Korea claims to have launched a hypersonic missile.

Hello, I'm Phil. And I'm Pippa.

In this programme we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode,

as well as a worksheet, on our website:

bbclearningenglish.com.

So, let's hear more about this story.

North Korea has launched a missile which they claimed flew

at over 12 times the speed of sound

and travelled 1500km.

Hypersonic missiles,

which travel more than five times faster than sound

and can change direction,

are much harder to intercept than other types of missiles.

Only China, Russia and the US

are currently thought to have this technology.

Some people suspect that Russia is helping

North Korea to develop advanced missile technology

in return for troops to fight in Ukraine.

But the South Korean military says they believe the claims

from North Korea are exaggerated.

Our first headline is talking

about the statement from the North Korean government about the missile.

North Korea says new hypersonic missile will 'contain' rivals.

And that's from the BBC.

And that headline again, North Korea says

new hypersonic missile will 'contain' rivals.

And that's from the BBC.

So Kim Jong-Un, North Korea's leader,

has said that the purpose of the new missile is for self-defence.

And we're looking at the verb 'contain' in the headline.

Now, the most common use of 'contain' is to say that something is

inside something else.

A suitcase contains clothes or a bottle contains water.

And here Kim Jong-Un is talking about containing rivals.

And so this is a metaphorical use.

A key part of 'contain' is that something is held inside a container,

like you said, Phil.

Yes. And if you contain your rivals, then you impose limits on them,

and they're held inside those limits.

Yep. So, Kim Jong-Un is saying that this missile is capable of limiting

what the country's rivals can do - of containing them.

We can use 'contain' like this in different ways.

So, in sport, if you contain your opponent, it means

that you're effective enough at playing to stop them from playing well.

Yeah, and we use it in a similar way to talk about containing your feelings

or emotions.

So, if you contain your emotions, you control your sadness, anger

or excitement and you stop that emotion from being expressed.

And another example, vaccines and lockdowns

are both ways used to contain a virus - to limit its spread and control it.

We've had 'contain' - limit.

For example, the attacking army were able to surround

and contain the enemy quickly.

This is 'Learning English from The News', our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about North Korea claiming to have launched

a hypersonic missile.

Our next headline describes the response from South Korea.

Acting president condemns North Korea's latest missile provocation.

And that's from The Korea Times.

That headline, again from The Korea Times.

Acting president condemns North Korea's latest missile provocation.

So Choi Sang-mok, who is currently acting as president of South Korea,

has criticised the missile launch, highlighting that it's a violation

of UN Security Council resolutions and a threat to regional security.

He described North Korea's missile launch

as a 'provocation', which is the word we're looking at.

Yep, 'provocation' is a noun.

It comes from the verb 'provoke'.

If you provoke someone, you do something to make them react angrily.

So, a provocation is the thing that you do,

the thing that causes that angry or upset reaction.

The acting South Korean president,

is saying that this missile launch is intended to cause an angry reaction.

Yes, we often use provocation in a military context, so military actions

from one country can often be seen as a provocation by rival countries.

We also use this noun 'provocation'

in legal language to talk about the reason why someone committed a crime.

But in everyday language, we usually use the adjective 'provocative'

to talk about something that will anger or upset people.

We don't usually use the noun 'provocation'.

OK, so we've had 'provocation' - an action

that could lead to an angry reaction.

For example,

the military exercises near the border were the provocation that led to war.

This is 'Learning English from the News', our podcast about the news headlines.

Today, we're talking about North Korea claiming to have launched

a hypersonic missile.

We've seen that the South Korean authorities believe

the missile was a provocation.

But they've also said that North Korea's claims might not be completely true.

And that's what our next headline is about.

North Korea's claim of hypersonic missile launch likely 'deception':

South Korean military.

And that's from Yonhap News, from South Korea.

That headline again from Yonhap, North Korea's claim of

hypersonic missile launch likely 'deception': South Korean military.

This story reports the South Korean military saying

that the missile did not fly as far as North Korean authorities claimed,

and that it didn't change direction either.

We're going to look at the word 'deception'.

Deception is tricking someone into believing something that isn't true.

Here, the South Korean military believes that the statement

from North Korea is intended to trick people into thinking

that their weapons are more sophisticated than they actually are.

Some more examples:

Criminals might use deception to trick people

into giving away personal information,

and politicians are sometimes accused of using deception to win people's votes.

Deception as an uncountable noun is about the concept,

but it can be a countable noun to talk about a single dishonest action.

And we also use 'deceptive' as an adjective and the verb, 'to deceive'.

We've been looking at 'deception'. That's tricking someone

into believing something that isn't true.

For example, deception is easier when people trust you.

That's it for this episode of 'Learning English from the News'.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

If you've enjoyed this program, test what you've learned using the worksheet

on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

Remember, you can also find us on social media.

Just search for 'BBC Learning English'.

Bye for now. Bye!