TOKYO, North Korea said Wednesday that it tested a “super-large” multiple rocket launcher under the supervision of leader Kim Jong-un on the previous day, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The report came a day after South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that Pyongyang fired two short-range projectiles from a western region into the East Sea (Sea of Japan). Both are estimated to have flown about 330 km at a maximum altitude of 50-60 km.
Kim “gave field guidance to the test-fire of super-large multiple rocket launcher again,” the KCNA said, without mentioning whether the test was a success.
“The recent test-fire was in full line with its purpose, and served as a chance to clearly decide the next stage towards completing the weapons system,” it said.
“The supreme leader said that the weapon system of super-large multiple rocket launcher has been finally verified in terms of combat operation, and the remaining step is to carry out a test,” it added.
The launches came just hours after the North’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui expressed a willingness to resume denuclearization talks with the US in late September and demanded that Washington come up with a new proposal acceptable to Pyongyang.
Nuclear negotiations have been at a standstill since the no-deal summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim n Hanoi in February. But after an imprompt meeting between the two leaders at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June, the two sides agreed to resume working-level talks within weeks, though the talks have not taken place so far.
Source: Kuwait News Agency