US Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan Says N. Korea Weapons Test Not Ballistic Missile

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2019) US Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told reporters on Thursday that the weapons test conducted by North Korea did not involve a ballistic missile.

On Wednesday, North Korean's state-run KCNA news agency reported that the country's leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test fire of the country's new tactical guided weapon.

"I'm not going to go into the detailed intelligence, but the way I'd characterize it is it's not a ballistic missile," Shanahan said. "Also, there's no change to our posture or to our operations."

The Defense Department confirmed on Wednesday that it was aware of reports that North Korea conducted a weapons test, but did not provide additional comments.

Denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea have stalled following the summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February. An agreement was expected to be signed at the second summit in Hanoi, however, US President Donald Trump walked away from talks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un demanded the full removal of sanctions without pledging to denuclearize the sites that the United States had specified.

Earlier on Thursday, the head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's department for the US affairs called for the replacement of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with a "more careful and mature" negotiator, putting the blame on him for the failure of the February summit in Hanoi.