North Korea announced that it test-fired a new tactical guided weapon on Wednesday that increased the “combat power” of the country’s military. The state-run Korean Central News Agency said the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, oversaw the firing of the weapon by the Academy of Defense Science.
It was not immediately clear what type of weapon was fired, but the move would mark the first weapons test since President Donald Trump’s summit with Kim in Hanoi in February and a sign of public defiance by Kim following a stalemate in the high-stakes denuclearization talks.Kim said the “the development of the weapon system serves as an event of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power of the People’s Army.”Analysts said the description of a tactical weapon appeared to rule out a long-range weapon.
“However, the U.S. did not detect a missile launch either time so it must be a short-range system, perhaps an artillery system such as a multiple rocket launcher or an antitank guided missile,” he said. “Pundits and policymakers should refrain from assuming this is a signal of Pyongyang deliberately ratcheting up of tensions or closing the door on negotiations.
