North Korea conducts test meant to ‘restrain US threat’

North Korea said on Saturday it had successfully conducted another test at a satellite launch site, saying its latest tests are aimed at “restraining and overpowering the nuclear threat of the US”, Reuters reported, citing state news agency KCNA.

The test was conducted on Friday at the Sohae satellite launch site, KCNA said, citing a spokesman for North Korea’s Academy of Defense Science, without specifying what sort of testing occurred.

In a later statement carried by KCNA, Chief of the General Staff Pak Jong Chon said the tests were designed to bolster North Korea’s defenses by developing new weapons.

“The priceless data, experience and new technologies gained in the recent tests of defense science research will be fully applied to the development of another strategic weapon of the DPRK for definitely and reliably restraining and overpowering the nuclear threat of the US,” the official was quoted as having said.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un engaged in months of mutual insults and threats of devastation in 2017, sending tensions soaring before a diplomatic rapprochement the following year.

The pair have met three times since June 2018, most recently in Vietnam in February, but with little progress towards denuclearization. Pyongyang has set Washington a December 31 deadline to make new concessions to kickstart stalled talks.

Since that June meeting, North Korea has conducted several tests of ballistic missiles.

Friday’s test was the second test at the Sohae facility in the space of a week.

KCNA on Sunday said that North Korea had carried out a “very important” test on December 7 at the satellite launch site, a rocket-testing facility that US officials once said North Korea had promised to close.

Following that test, Trump warned that Kim had “everything” to lose through hostility towards the United States.

“Kim Jong Un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way,” Trump tweeted.

Trump has said he’s “not happy” about North Korea’s persistent testing of short-range missiles but denied the launches violate any agreement.