North Korea Announces “Successful Test” at Rocket Launching Site

North Korea’s Academy of National Defense has issued a statement on a “successful test of great significance” during a “very important test [which] took place at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on the afternoon of December 7, 2019.” The test, although not yet confirmed, has prompted response from President Trump, who tweeted “Kim Jong Un… signed a strong Denuclearization Agreement with me in Singapore. He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of the United States”. President Trump and Chairman Kim signed a joint statement at the Singapore Summit in June 2018, in which “Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

However, North Korea has since launched over a dozen short-range missiles, but President Trump has declared these “missiles tests are not a violation of our signed Singapore agreement, nor was there discussion of short range missiles when we shook hands.” Previously, North Korea has defended their missile testing as a response to United States’ joint military exercises with South Korea. North Korea claims the U.S.’s military exercises with South Korea is in violation of Trump and Kim’s joint statement that the “United States and the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”

North Korea’s Academy of National Defense’ statement concluded stating, “the recent important test will have an important effect on changing the strategic position of the DPRK once again in the near future.”