NORTH KOREA TESTS NEW TACTICAL WEAPON, RELEASES US PRISONER
SEOUL— North Korean leader Kim Jong-un publicly inspected a new tactical weapon for the first time in nearly a year and decided to release a US prisoner, sending conflicting signals at a time of sensitive negotiations.
Kim Jong-un’s visit to the test site of a new “tactical weapon” threatened to sour the diplomatic atmosphere as negotiations between his country and the United States appear to have stalled.
Display of capability
“This result today is a justification of the party’s policy focused on defense science and technology, another display of our rapidly growing defense capabilities to the whole region, and a groundbreaking change in strengthening our military’s combat capabilities,” Kim said.
In Washington, in response to the North Korean announcement, a US state department spokesperson said, “We remain confident that the promises made by President Trump and Chairman Kim will be fulfilled.”
The official was referring to an unprecedented summit in June between US President Donald Trump and Kim in Sin- gapore, where they agreed to work toward denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula, and establish new relations.
But the agreement was short on specifics, and negotiations have made little headway.
Steel wall
In a possibly conciliatory gesture, however, North Korea also announced on Friday it was releasing an American citizen detained since October after “illegally” entering North Korea from China.
The military test was successful and the weapon could protect North Korea like a “steel wall,” its KCNA news agency said, adding that Kim had observed “the power of the tactical weapon.”