North Korea conducts anti-aircraft missile test amid stalled talks with US

North Korean state media reported on Friday that the country had test-fired an anti-aircraft missile on Thursday amid stalled nuclear talks with the United States, Reuters reported.

The weapons developer that test-fired the missile, the Academy of Defense Science, was reportedly determining the functionality of several elements of the missile, including combat performance, its radar and its launcher, the wire service noted, citing state media.

The test-launch was “of very practical significance in studying and developing various prospective anti-aircraft missile system,” Korean Central News Agency said, the Associated Press reported.

Pak Jong Chon, a top official among the country’s Workers’ Party and Central Committee, surveyed the launch, and Reuters noted that it looked as though the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, had not gone to the launch.

The news comes as the country has test-fired several missiles this month. In mid-September, state media reported that new long-range cruise missiles had been successfully test-fired one weekend. On Wednesday, North Korean state media reported that a new hypersonic missile had also been successfully tested.

Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly earlier this week, North Korea’s U.N. envoy, Kim Song, said that the country would be willing to restart nuclear talks but slammed the U.S. for its “hostile” policy, adding that in North Korea’s judgement “there is no prospect at the present stage for the U.S. to really withdraw its hostile policy.”

Since former President Trump’s summit to North Korea failed to produce a compromise between the two countries in 2019, nuclear talks between the two have largely stalled. 

The Hill has reached out to the State Department and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command for comment.