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North Korean leader attends trials of new tactical guided weapon — KCNA

The report does not reveal the exact type of the weapon

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

© Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has attended the test launch of a new tactical guided weapon, the country’s KCNA news agency reported on Thursday.

"Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the Armed Forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, supervised and guided a test-fire of a new-type tactical guided weapon conducted by the Academy of Defence Science on Wednesday," the agency reported.

"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," the report reads.

The report does not reveal the exact type of the weapon. Reuters suggested that the term "tactical" implies a short-range weapon, as opposed to long-range ballistic missiles which the US and its allies see as a potential threat.

According to the agency, it was the first weapons test officially announced by Pyongyang since the failed February 28 US-North Korean summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.

When contacted by a TASS correspondent, a White House spokesperson said the US administration was not commenting on the report at present.

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