'Disappointing': US slams North Korea over ICBM display in military parade

After North Korea displayed its latestintercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a military parade in Pyongyang on Saturday, the United States has expressed its disappointment over this chest-beating parade.

"It is disappointing to see the DPRK (North Korea) continuing to prioritize its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile program," a US official said.

The official urged the North Korean leader to follow the agreement that the two countries had back in 2018. "The United States remains guided by the vision President Trump and Chairman Kim set forth in Singapore (in 2018) and calls on the DPRK to engage in sustained and substantive negotiations to achieve complete denuclearization."

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The statement has come at a time when the two countries, led by Donald Trumo and Kim Jong Un, are unable to reach a conclusion on thedenuclearization negotiations since thecollapse of their Hanoi summit early last year over sanctions relief and what the North would be willing to give up in return.

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The missile -- which may have been a mock-up -- was carried on an enormous and previously unseen 11-axle transporter-erector-launcher, far larger than the eight-axle Chinese-made vehicles the North has employed so far.

The display was proudly observed by the North Korean leader a few weeks before the US elections that are scheduled for November 03.

Display of ICBM has received criticism from all over the world and is being seen as a violation of several requests and orders passed by the rest of the world to put an end to the development ofits arsenal throughout the diplomatic process.

Analysts also said that it was the largest road-mobile, liquid-fuelled missile anywhere in the world, and was likely to be designed to carry multiple warheads in independent re-entry vehicles (MIRVs).

(With inputs from AFP)