North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has observed the test firing of a new type of tactical guided weapon aimed at boosting the country’s nuclear capabilities, the North’s KCNA state news agency reported on Sunday.
The report comes amid signs North Korea could soon resume nuclear testing according to South Korean and US officials and after Mr. Kim broke a self-imposed moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile testing with a launch last month.
North Korea has been developing short-range ballistic missiles that analysts say are designed to evade missile defenses and strike targets in the South in the event of a war. South Korea’s current president Moon Jae-in, who will leave office on May 10, has received real-time briefings on the North’s missile launch, his office said.Ankit Panda, senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the weapon appears to be the North’s first tactical nuclear weapons delivery system, while pointing to indications of work to restore North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
Duyeon Kim, a North Korea expert at the US-based Center for a New American Security, said the timing could be taken as a protest against anticipated joint US-South Korea military drills.