North Korea Tests New Weapon
David Sanger and Choe Sang-Hun | New York Times
North Korea said on Thursday that it test-fired a new type of “tactical guided weapon,” in what appeared to be a warning from Kim Jong-un to President Trump that unless once-promising negotiations with Washington resume, the two countries could again be on a collision course. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency did not specify what type of weapon was involved in the test. But there was no evidence the test involved a nuclear detonation or an intercontinental ballistic missile.
North Korea Rejects Pompeo’s Role in Nuclear Talks, Asks for More ‘Mature’ U.S. Envoy
Simon Denyer and Matthew Bodner | Washington Post
North Korea spurned the top U.S. diplomat as not sufficiently “mature” and offered a hand to Moscow on Thursday in back-to-back moves by Kim Jong Un to possibly reset the terms of his outreach with Washington. The announcements came hours after North Korea announced it had tested a tactical guided weapon, its first public weapons test since the breakdown of a summit between President Trump and Kim in February. North Korea further jabbed Washington by announcing it no longer wants to talk to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in negotiations over Pyongyang’s nuclear program. The statement, carried on state media, demanded that Pompeo be replaced with someone who “is more careful and mature in communicating.”
North Korean Leader Kim to Meet Russia’s Putin this Month: Kremlin
Tom Balmforth | Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will travel to Russia this month for talks with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Thursday, announcing the first Russia-North Korea summit since Kim came to power in 2011. The announcement coincided with a moment of discord in efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to reach a deal with Kim to end nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula. North Korea said on Thursday it no longer wanted to deal with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and called for him to be replaced in talks by somebody more mature. That demand came hours after Pyongyang announced its first weapons test since a summit in Vietnam between Trump and Kim broke down in February with no agreement.
U.S. Halts Recent Practice of Disclosing Nuclear Weapon Total
Robert Burns | Military Times
The Trump administration has halted, without explanation, the recent U.S. government practice of disclosing the current size of the nuclear weapons stockpile. The decision was revealed in a recent Department of Energy letter to the Federation of American Scientists, a private group that studies nuclear weapons issues and advocates for government openness on national security issues. The Obama administration, in May 2010, had declassified for the first time the full history of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile from its beginning in 1945. It revealed that the warhead total stood at 5,113 as of Sept. 30, 2009, approximately the number that private experts had estimated and about 84 percent below the official peak number of 31,255 warheads in 1967.
Exclusive: Dispute Flares Among U.S. Officials Over Trump Administration Iran Arms Control Report
Jonathan Landay and Arshad Mohammed | Reuters
A new Trump administration report on international compliance with arms control accords provoked a dispute with U.S. intelligence agencies and some State Department officials concerned that the document politicizes and slants assessments about Iran, five sources with knowledge of the matter said. U.S. President Donald Trump is intensifying a drive to contain Iran’s power in the Middle East, which has raised fears that his administration wants to topple the Tehran government or lay the groundwork to justify military action. The administration says it is trying to halt Iranian “malign behavior” in its support for Islamist militants in the region and denies seeking the overthrow of the Islamic republic’s government.
The Cost of New Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles is Going Up. Here’s Why the Air Force Isn’t Concerned
Valerie Insinna | Defense News
The Air Force expects the price of its next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile to increase in the short term to pay for improved infrastructure, such as an overhaul of the existing silos, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command said Wednesday. But ultimately, the service projects that the total cost estimate for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program will come back down after the Air Force makes a source selection decision, in which competitors Boeing and Northrop Grumman will duke it out over which company can offer the best price, Gen. Timothy Ray told reporters during a roundtable event.