Seoul's Unification Ministry addressed news reports of Kim Jong-un's inspection of a weapon test, saying that the North Korean leader occasionally made public appearances at military-related events this year.

During a daily news briefing on Friday, ministry spokeswoman Lee Eugene told reporters that there has been a total of eight occasions this year where Kim's visits to military events were publicized, including the latest one.

While refusing to comment on the significance of Kim's first visit to a testing of a weapon system in about a year, she said it is difficult for her ministry to assess the implications of the event.

North Korean media reported on Friday that Kim attended an onsite testing of what they called a new tactical weapon, marking the first such event since Kim attended the test-firing of the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile on November 29th of last year.