North Korea Provokes US, Tests 'Powerful Warhead' Tactical Guided Weapon

North Korea’s admission Wednesday it tested a new type of tactical guided weapon seems to be a calculated move by its leader, Kim Jong-un, to remind his citizens and the world of the country’s military power.

It is the first weapons test conducted by North Korea since June 12, 2018, when the first summit between Kim and president Donald Trump took place in Singapore.

State-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the test of “a powerful warhead” was overseen by Kim and marks the first public weapons test from the regime. It said Kim directed a "tactical guided weapons firing test."

U.S. intelligence sources say they detected no launch of a ballistic missile Wednesday, which means the weapon tested might have been some sort of battlefield missile fired from a rocket launcher.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr said Kim might be calculating that testing a short-range battlefield missile instead of a long-range ballistic missile won’t be provocative enough to anger Trump while reminding him of the stakes at their third summit, if this does come about.

"This is a volatile country that holds the entire world at risk but, at this point, it just seems like a bunch of propaganda and a way to remind the Trump administration why they were negotiating in the first place," explains Alexandra Bell, senior policy director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also told CNN, "With rebuilding Sohae, continued activity at ballistic missile facilities and Yongbyon, and this, Kim seems to be suggesting 'I've loaded my gun, but I am not going to fire ... just yet."

The White House and Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to media requests for comment.

KCNA didn’t reveal what the weapon was, and said nothing about whether it was a missile or another type of weapon. It did say this weapon has a “peculiar mode of guiding flight” and “a powerful warhead.”

Kim said “the completion of the development of the weapon system serves as an event of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power.”

The weapons test came two days after Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed Kim’s demand Washington show more flexibility in nuclear talks by year-end. Kim last week said he was only interested in meeting Trump again if Trump came with the right attitude.

Pompeo on Monday said Kim should keep his promise to give up his nuclear weapons before then.

“Our teams are working with the North Koreans ... to chart a path forward so that we can get there,” said Pompeo. “He said he wanted it done by the end of the year. I’d love to see that done sooner.”