North Korea Tests 'New-Type Weapon' Amid Regional Tensions

North Korea’s missile agency has tested a “new-type weapon,” according to Pyongyang’s state media. Seoul said two short-range ballistic missiles were fired on Sunday toward the Sea of Japan.

North Korean reports did not specify what was new about the unit, saying only that the test was “of great significance” to the nation’s military. State media released several photos showing the launch of a road-mobile missile tipped with what appeared to be a hypersonic glide vehicle.

Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the test and said that his country’s possession of “ultra-modern defense technology” serves as a deterrent and would “give the enemy an incurable headache.”

Senior officials from South Korea, Japan and the US held phone consultations on Monday to discuss their response to the test, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said.

Local media linked the launch to the multinational Pacific Vanguard maritime exercise held in August and September. Warships from Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the US participated in the drills. Pyongyang views US-led military exercises in the region as a threat to its national security and has frequently responded with demonstrations of military force.

In recent years, Kim’s government has abandoned Korean unification as an overarching policy goal and formally designated South Korea as a separate hostile state. The shift has not been fully mirrored in Seoul, although the government of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has made some adjustments to its messaging in that direction.

Lee’s Democratic Party of Korea generally favors reducing tensions with Pyongyang, in contrast with the conservative People Power Party. In an interview with The New York Times last week, Lee suggested that some relief from international sanctions on North Korea could encourage it to slow its weapons development.

“I believe there is significant value in a trade-off between sanctions – which are not particularly effective anyway – and a stop to the development of additional nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile technology,” he said.

“Aiming for denuclearization under the current circumstances,” Lee added, “guarantees that nothing will be accomplished.”

US President Donald Trump has recently taken a more conciliatory tone toward North Korea. In August, he suggested that an in-person meeting with Kim could be arranged after the Pentagon cut short a joint military exercise with Seoul.

The Trump administration’s international standing has suffered a number of blows recently, primarily due to his decision to launch a war with Iran, which has significantly disrupted the global energy market.