U.S. says DPRK test was not a ballistic missile
CGTN
["china"]
A weapons test announced by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was not of a ballistic missile, said the U.S. defense chief on Thursday, adding that U.S. forces have not changed their posture in response.
"There was a test," Patrick Shanahan, the acting defense secretary, told reporters as he met his Albanian counterpart at the Pentagon.
He declined to elaborate on the findings of U.S. intelligence but said, "It's not a ballistic missile."
"Also there's no change to our posture or to our operations," he said.
DPRK leader Kim Jong Un gives guidance while attending a flight training of Korean People's Army Air Force at an undisclosed location, April 16, 2019. /Reuters Photo

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un gives guidance while attending a flight training of Korean People's Army Air Force at an undisclosed location, April 16, 2019. /Reuters Photo

DPRK state media earlier announced that leader Kim Jong Un had supervised the test-firing of a new tactical weapon with a "powerful warhead," hailing what it called a contribution of "very weighty significance" to its arsenal.
Analysts have speculated that the test could have involved anything from a small anti-tank missile to relatively routine artillery, with an official from the Republic of Korea (ROK) also saying that the country saw no sign of a ballistic missile.
Amid a standstill in nuclear talks, the DPRK on Thursday both announced the test and demanded that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo be excluded from negotiations after he apparently encouraged U.S. President Donald Trump to stand firm in Hanoi.
(Top image: U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by then Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2018. /Reuters Photo)
Source(s): AFP