North Korean leader expressed satisfaction with rocket test

North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, says he was totally satisfied with the results of his country’s latest missile test, which came ahead of a year-end deadline for the US to take practical steps on the road to kick-starting the stalled nuclear talks.

Kim inspected the test-launch of “two unidentified projectiles” toward the Sea of Japan on Thursday, said the country’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in a statement on Friday.

"The Supreme Leader expressed great satisfaction over the results of the test-fire,” said the agency.

“The volley test-fire aimed to finally examine the combat application of the super-large multiple launch rocket system proved the military and technical superiority of the weapon system and its firm reliability,” it added.

The test-launch, which came close to the end of the year, is considered a warning to the United States of a deadline to come up with a new proposal to create a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The North, currently under multiple rounds of harsh sanctions by the UN and the United States over its nuclear and missile programs, put a unilateral halt to its missile and nuclear tests shortly before a diplomatic thaw began between Pyongyang and Seoul in early 2018.

Back in April, he gave Washington until the year’s end to ease sanctions on Pyongyang and stop trying to force an unpalatable denuclearization deal.

Kim warned that he will be finding a “new way” if the US continues with its hostile policies.

Last month, the US President once again urged Kim in a Twitter message to “get the deal done,” and meet in a third summit with him. Kim, however, ruled out any other “useless” summit with Trump, if he receives nothing in return.

With no progress in talks with the US, the North eventually restarted short-range missile testing in August.

Talks between the two sides have been stalled since the second summit between Trump and Kim in Vietnam broke up without an agreement or even a joint statement