DPRK leader supervises test-fire of new tactical guided weapon: KCNA

World Today

This April 16, 2019 picture released from the DPRK’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 17, 2019 shows DPRK leader Kim Jong-Un observing the flight drill of the combat pilots of Unit 1017 of the Air and Anti-aircraft Force of the Korean People’s Army at undisclosed place. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / various sources / AFP)

The Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un has supervised a test-firing of a new tactical guided weapon, calling its development an “event of very weighty significance” in beefing up its military power, state media reported on Thursday.

“Saying that the completion of the development of the weapon system serves as an event of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power of the People’s Army, he noted that it is a very good thing that the field of national defense science has waged a dynamic struggle for attaining core research goals,” Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.

“After watching the power of the new-type tactical guided weapon, he pointed out that our national defense scientists and workers in the field of the munitions industry performed another great work in increasing the country’s defense capabilities,” the KCNA said.

It did not specify exactly what the tested weapon was. The test took place on Wednesday, the KCNA said.

Kim’s supervision of the weapon test came after he suggested a year-end deadline for denuclearization negotiations with the U.S. following the breakdown of his February summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, Pyongyang’s media reported that the DPRK leader visited an air force unit and reviewed a flight exercise in his first public inspection of military activities in five months.

Story by Yonhap