North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversees test of new tactical guided weapon

Pyongyang conducts first public weapons test since the second US-North Korea summit ended with no agreement in February

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives guidance while attending a flight training of Unit 1017 of the Korean People's Army Air. Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the testing of a new type of tactical guided weapon on Wednesday, state media said on Thursday.

It is North Korea’s first public weapons test since the second US -North Korea summit in Hanoi ended with no agreement in February.

Korean Central News Agency did not describe the weapon but “tactical” implies a short-range weapon, as opposed to the long-range ballistic missiles that have been considered a threat to the US.

But the missile has a “peculiar mode of guiding flight” and “a powerful warhead", the agency said.

“The completion of the development of the weapon system serves as an event of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power” of the North Korean army, Mr Kim said.

He oversaw a test of an unidentified “tactical weapon” in November, which could protect North Korea like a “steel wall”.

Last year, Mr Kim said North Korea would stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles, because Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities had been “verified.”

The North Korean leader visited the North Korean Air and Anti-aircraft Force on Tuesday, inspecting a flight drill and expressing “great satisfaction” at their combat readiness.

Meanwhile, satellite images from last week show movement at North Korea’s main nuclear site that could be associated with  processing radioactive material into bomb fuel, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in the US said on Tuesday.