North Korea’s Kim oversees new ‘guided weapon’ test — state media

In this Aug. 14, 2017, file photo distributed by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acknowledges a welcome from the military officers during his visit to Korean People’s Army’s Strategic Forces in North Korea. AP FILE

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised the test-firing of a new type of “tactical guided weapon,” the country’s state media reported on Thursday.

It said the “advantages” of the weapon are “the peculiar mode of guiding flight and the load of a powerful warhead,” which the test verified.

The KCNA report did not provide further details about the weapon, but said Kim described its development as one “of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power of the People’s Army.”

KCNA added that Wednesday’s testing was “conducted in various modes of firing at different targets” and that Kim “guided the test-fire.”

The announcement came the day after a US monitor, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said activity has been detected at North Korea’s main nuclear site, suggesting Pyongyang may be reprocessing radioactive material into bomb fuel since the collapse of a February summit with Washington.

That meeting, the second between US President Donald Trump and Kim, ended abruptly without agreement on Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

Since then, North Korea has said it was mulling options for its diplomacy with the US, and Kim said last week he was open to talks with Trump only if Washington came with the “proper attitude.” /cbb