North Korea recently tested a "new tactical guided weapon" and criticized U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, signaling impatience with America's refusal to lift sanctions.
Pyongyang's freeze on nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches is still intact, although the most dangerous parts of these weapons programs — production and research and development — continue.
Given that the North's intercontinental ballistic missiles have advanced to a menacing threshold, Kim chose instead to test a conventional battlefield weapon rather than tempt fate and risk a "bloody nose" attack from the United States.