North Korea said it had tested a new tactical weapon, in an unconfirmed move that comes as Washington and Pyongyang remain at an impasse following the failed Hanoi summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.

State media said Mr Kim, the North Korean dictator, had overseen the test of a new tactical guided weapon. The Korean Central News Agency said the weapon was designed to carry a “powerful warhead” and that its completion was an event of “very weighty significance in increasing the combat power of the [Korean] People’s Army”. 

The White House and Pentagon said they were aware of the North Korean claim but declined to comment. It was unclear what kind of weapon Pyongyang had tested, but experts said it was almost certainly not a medium or long-range missile that the US would easily detect.