SEOUL, Dec 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Korea said Sunday it had carried out a “very important test” at its space launch centre, as Pyongyang ramps up pressure on Washington over stalled nuclear talks.
The announcement of Saturday’s test at the Sohae satellite launch site came
just hours after US President Donald Trump said he’d be “surprised” by any
hostile action from the North.
“A very important test took place at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground
on the afternoon of December 7, 2019,” a spokesman for North Korea’s Academy of the National Defence Science said.
The result of the latest test will have an “important effect” on changing
the “strategic position” of North Korea, the spokesman said in a statement
carried by the KCNA news agency.
The statement did not provide further details on the test.
Sohae, on North Korea’s northwest coast, is ostensibly a facility designed
for putting satellites into orbit.
The latest test comes as Pyongyang is ramping up pressure ahead of its
Dec 31 deadline for the US to propose a new offer to kickstart stalled
nuclear talks.
Hours before North Korea announced its latest test, Trump had emphasised
his “very good relationship” with Kim.
“Well, we’ll see about North Korea. I’d be surprised if North Korea acted
hostiley,” he said on Saturday afternoon in Washington DC. “(Kim) knows I
have an election coming up. I don’t think he wants to interfere with that.
But we’ll have to see.”
Following his first summit with Kim in June 2018, Trump said Kim had agreed to destroy “a major missile engine testing site” without naming the facility.
Kim then agreed to shutter the Sohae site during a summit last year with
South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang as part of trust-building
measures.
Kim has held three meetings with Trump since June 2018 but little progress
has been made in efforts towards denuclearisation. — NNN-AGENCIES
