North Korea has tested a new weapons system under the supervision of leader Kim Jong Un, state media reported early Sunday.

Official Korean Central News Agency said the “new-type tactical guided weapon… is of great significance in drastically improving the firepower of frontline long-range artillery units and enhancing the efficiency in operating tactical nukes.”

It said the test was successful.

This included “important instructions on further strengthening the defence capabilities and nuclear combat forces,” the report said.

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos of a beaming Kim applauding as he watched a test firing of the weapon.

North Korea celebrated Kim Il Sung’s birthday on Friday with a huge public procession, fireworks, and synchronised dancing — but no military parade as many observers had expected.

Analysts and South Korean and US officials also had thought a nuclear test was possible on the important anniversary.

The anniversary celebrations came three weeks after North Korea staged its largest intercontinental ballistic missile test ever — the first time Kim’s most powerful weapon had been fired at full range since 2017.

That test was the culmination of a record-breaking blitz of sanctions-busting launches this year and signalled an end to a self-imposed moratorium on long-range and nuclear tests.

Long-range and nuclear tests have been paused since Kim met then-US president Donald Trump for a bout of doomed diplomacy, which collapsed in 2019

Officials and analysts say North Korea may carry out its seventh nuclear test in the coming weeks.

Satellite imagery has shown signs of new activity at a tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, which North Korea said was demolished in 2018 ahead of the first Trump-Kim summit.