US confident of DPRK promises despite weapon test

World
Europe

00:40

The United States remains confident that promises made by President Donald Trump and leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un at their Singapore summit will be fulfilled, a US State Department spokesman said on Thursday, after the DPRK said it successfully tested a new tactical weapon.

"We remain confident that the promises made by President Trump and Chairman Kim will be fulfilled," the spokesman said in a statement.

Pyongyang's state media KCNA reported Friday that Kim has supervised the testing of a "high-tech" new weapon.

US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un during their summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore, June 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

"Kim Jong Un inspected the testing of a newly developed high-tech tactical weapon at the Academy of National Defence Science," reported KCNA.

It said the test was successful but did not specify the type of device involved.

The "high-tech tactical weapon" had been developed over a long period and "builds impregnable defenses of our country and strengthens the fighting power of our people's army," it added.

Pyongyang's suspension of nuclear weapon and ballistic missile tests has been key to this year's rapid diplomatic developments with the US and the Republic of Korea (ROK) and has been repeatedly praised by President Donald Trump.

Trump and Kim met in a historic summit in Singapore in June, where they signed a document on denuclearization of the peninsula.

Meanwhile, US Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday President Trump plans to meet Kim in 2019 and will push for a concrete plan outlining Pyongyang's moves to end its arms programs.

00:30

"The plans are ongoing. We believe that the summit will likely occur after the first of the year, but the when and the where of that is still being worked out,” Pence told reporters after meeting ROK President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Singapore.

In a separate interview with NBC News, Pence said the US would not require Pyongyang to provide a complete list of nuclear weapons and locations before the second summit but that the meeting must produce a concrete plan.

"I think it will be absolutely imperative in this next summit that we come away with a plan for identifying all of the weapons in question, identifying all the development sites, allowing for inspections of the sites and the plan for dismantling nuclear weapons,” Pence said.

(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)