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The North Korean government recently released this undated picture of leader Kim Jong Un on an undisclosed site.
Photo:
France / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images
SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un went to a weapons facility to inspect the test of a "newly developed high-tech tactical weapon," media reports said. -Koreans Friday morning in Pyongyang.
This was the first public announcement of the North's continued military advancement since the beginning of the diplomatic process with the United States and South Korea earlier this year.
The report, which does not specify what type of weapon was tested or when Mr. Kim's visit took place, is presented in the uncertainty surrounding a nearly one-year diplomatic process that began earlier in the year. year and aims to reduce tensions and eliminate nuclear weapons in the region. Korean peninsula.
The North has brutally canceled a planned meeting in New York between State Secretary Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong Chol earlier this month. The state department has attributed it to a conflict of hours.
Even so, senior administration officials have said in recent days that a second summit meeting between President Trump and Mr Kim is scheduled for early next year.
The announcement of the development of the new weapon also follows a statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry earlier this month that Pyongyang could openly resume the process of "strengthening nuclear forces". if the United States did not lift the sanctions.
Kim's visit was the first visit of a North Korean leader to an armament facility since he declared in April that the country's nuclear program and missiles were over and he was now focusing on economic development.
Although Friday's report in the North Korean media did not reveal details of the new weapon, he said that the weapon test was successful and was hailed as a significant improvement in the combat capabilities of the team. the army.
The report added that the tactical weapon was originally developed by Kim Jong Il, Kim's late father.
The visit took place at the Institute of Defense Science, which Kim visited to oversee the development of parts of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, according to national media reports.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at [email protected] and Andrew Jeong at [email protected]
