IPFS News Link • Korea/North Korea
North Korea announces weapons test; will release detained American
• ABC NewsWhile the report did not say what kind of weapon it was, the announcement comes amid some renewed tensions with the U.S. and an impasse in talks over its nuclear weapons program.
Just last week, North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator abruptly canceled a trip to New York to meet Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, with those talks now postponed.
The North Korean regime also announced Friday that it had detained an American last month and would release him soon – a gesture of goodwill despite the weapon test.
North Korean state media did not show the test, but said Kim was visiting a test site – the first time he has supervised a weapons test since their last missile launch, an intercontinental ballistic missile tested in November 2017. The weapon's development began under Kim's father Kim Jong Il and its success made the young dictator miss him "very much," state media reported.
A U.S. official told ABC News there was no missile launch and no missile trajectories were detected. At this point, they say this was probably a small tactical weapon, but an assessment is still underway.
Perhaps a troubling sign, a second official told ABC News there is no intelligence on the North Korea report beyond what state media has revealed.