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North Korean state media said yesterday that leader Kim Jong Un had overseen a rocket and tactical guided weapons test, after the drill at the weekend raised concerns Pyongyang was escalating provocations with United States nuclear negotiations deadlocked.
But the United States seemed to seek a conciliatory tone in response, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying yesterday that Washington still saw “a path forward” in the denuclearisation process.
The North last carried out a missile test in November 2017, before a rapid diplomatic rapprochement saw tensions ease on the peninsula and a series of summits. A return to missile launches would be likely to infuriate US President Donald Trump, but the North’s official KCNA news agency shied away from the term in its report, saying Kim had ordered a “strike drill” involving “long-range multiple rocket launchers” which are not targeted by UN sanctions resolutions — and unspecified “tactical guided weapons”.
Seoul’s defence ministry said Sunday an analysis of the launch indicated Pyongyang had tested “240-mm and 300-mm multiple rocket launchers and a new type of tactical guided weapons with a range of around 70 to 240 kilometres” (45 to 150 miles).
