North Korea Conducts New Weapon Test, South Destroys Guard Post

North Korean President Kim Jong-un inspected and successfully tested a newly developed tactical weapon, the country’s state media said. The Korean Central News Agency did not specify the exact type of weapon or when the test occurred.

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"This result today is a justification of the party's policy focused on defence, science and technology, another display of our rapidly growing defence capabilities to the whole region, and a ground-breaking change in strengthening our military's combat capabilities," the KCNA report said.

“After seeing the power of the tactical weapon, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un was so excited to say that another great work was done by the defence scientists and munitions industrial workers to increase the defence capability of the country." 

An analyst from Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Shin Beomchul, noted that “it’s a North Korea-style coercive diplomacy. North Korea is saying ‘if you don’t listen to us, you will face political burdens,” said analyst.

Recently, South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon reassured that Seoul would not pursue economic cooperation with Pyongyang until “significant progress” has been made on denuclearization. Cho made the remark Thursday during a visit to Washington, also adding that improving inter-Korean relation would help, not hinder the process.

However, on Thursday, South Korea advanced the hope for a unified peninsula by destroying guard posts near the border with North Korea, in accordance with an agreement made by the two states. Smoke billowed into the sky signaling that a contained explosion, by the South, had initiated the pledge to destroy guard posts.

Seoul invited journalists to observe the action which fulfilled a pledge made when the neighbors signed a unification pact, in September. The Koreas agreed to dismantle or disarm nearly one dozen guard posts, each.

Last week, the two Koreas withdrew troops and firearms from some of the guard posts - which are located in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) - along the shared border, prior to conducting the demolition.

According to reports, South Korea had about 60 posts inside the DMZ, while The North was an estimated 160. There are an estimated 2 million landmines planted in and near the zone.