Pyongyang says it conducted a ‘very important test’ at rocket launching site – state media

Source: RT

December 8, 2019 at 00:19

FILE PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides the test firing of a new weapon, in this undated photo released on August 16, 2019 © Reuters / KCNA

North Korea has announced it carried out a “test of great significance” to the leadership of the country at the launch site close to the China border, adding that it will help to change the "strategic position" of Pyongyang.

Trump on North Korea: "He knows I have an election coming up. I don’t think he wants to interfere with that." pic.twitter.com/mDWONMXa1Q
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The reported test took place on Saturday afternoon local time, a spokesman for the North Korea’s Academy of the National Defense Science reported in a statement carried by KCNA, which lauded the launch as “successful” and “of great significance to the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.”

The results of the recent important test will have an important effect on changing the strategic position of the DPRK once again in the near future.

The launch was carried out from the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Tongch'ang-ri, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, the statement said. The site is located close to the North Korea's northern border with China.

Very few details have been revealed about the test itself so far, apart from the time and place where it was carried out.

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It comes hours after a North Korea envoy to the UN rejected the US’s call to galvanize the stalled negotiations, labelling them a “time-saving trick." He went on to state that the de-nuclearization of North Korea, sought by US President Donald Trump, has already been take off the table.

Simmering tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have ramped up recently, with North Korean state media warning earlier this week that even an accident could result in a full-blown armed conflict, while urging Washington to refrain from using force against North Korea.

The stern warning came after Trump issued a thinly-veiled threat against Pyongyang, saying that he might unleash the all US military might on North Korea if he thinks there is no other way to proceed.

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Pyongyang has repeatedly voiced its frustration over the deadlocked negotiations, which it labelled “a foolish trick” to “keep” the reclusive country “bound to dialog” without offering anything in return, such as the relief of crippling sanctions.

On Tuesday, Pyongyang launched another broadside at the US for its dragging out the talks. Insisting that ball is now in Washington’s court, North Korea said that it is “up to the US what Christmas gift it will select to get.”