N. Korean leader supervises test firing of new tactical guided weapon

By Lim Chang-won Posted : April 18, 2019, 08:07 Updated : April 18, 2019, 08:07

[KCNA / Yonhap Photo]


SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the test firing of a new tactical guided weapon at a sensitive time when as denuclearization talks were in a deadlock following a failed summit between U.S. and North Korean leaders in Vietnam in February.

The new-type tactical guided weapon was tested Wednesday by the Academy of Defense Science, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The academy has been involved in North Korea's missile program.

Kim has pledged to permanently dismantle facilities for ballistic missile launches and engine testing at the Sohae space center in Tongchang-ri in the presence of international inspectors. After measures to tear down some facilities, North Korea has rebuilt them. At their summit in Vietnam, U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim failed to strike a deal, triggering debate over whether Pyongyang is going backward.

"The design indexes of the tactical guided weapon whose advantages are appreciated for the peculiar mode of guiding flight and the load of a powerful warhead were perfectly verified at the test-fire conducted in various modes of firing at different targets," KCNA said, without elaborating on the type of the weapons or its specifications.

Kim was quoted as saying that the development of the new weapon system serves as "an event of very weighty significance" in beefing up the combat power of North Korean troops. "Our national defense scientists and workers in the field of the munitions industry performed another great work in increasing the country's defense capabilities," he said.

"He set the phased and strategic goals for keeping munitions production going on and putting national defense science and technology on cutting edge level and indicated detailed tasks and ways to attain them," KCNA said.



 
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