This is not the first time Pompeo has felt the heat of North Korean ire: He was accused of making "gangster-like demands" last July shortly after a visit to Pyongyang. But North Korea has been careful to avoid direct criticism of President Donald Trump, perhaps believing he is more likely to make concessions if he is flattered.

"While Pompeo is fabricating stories after his own taste ... it is fortunate that the personal relationship between our Chairman of the State Affairs Commission and President Trump is on good terms as usual and our Chairman is pleased to get on well with President Trump," the statement said, referring to Kim Jong-un by his title as head of North Korea's government.

The statement is another sign of North Korea's frustration with the progress of denuclearisation talks with the United States, after a summit between Trump and Kim ended abruptly in February without an agreement.

Earlier Thursday, North Korea announced it had test-fired a new tactical guided weapon, in its first public weapons test since the summit.

It was not immediately clear what type of weapon the North Koreans fired, but experts said the description of a tactical weapon, with guided flight, capable of carrying a powerful warhead and fired at a variety of targets, suggested a short-range missile rather a longer-range ballistic missile, meaning the move would not violate North Korea's self-declared moratorium on testing.

Nevertheless, experts said the action was a calibrated sign of defiance by Kim following a stalemate in the denuclearisation talks and a reminder that his country was continuing to develop its conventional weapons program. But they said it does not close the door on diplomacy or negotiations about North Korea's nuclear program.

KCNA said Kim oversaw the testing of the weapon Wednesday, explaining that it was tested "in various modes of firing at different targets," had a "peculiar mode of guiding flight," and could carry a powerful warhead.

Kim was quoted as saying that "the development of the weapon system serves as an event of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power of the People's Army."

Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, said the description suggested a short-range missile that can be launched from the ground, sea and air.

"This looks like a new form of cruise missile," he said. "If it's a new form of cruise missile, it's irrelevant to sanctions, because the current UN sanctions are about ballistic missiles."

The test follows an announcement in November of the firing of what state media called an "ultramodern tactical weapon," noting at the time Kim's "passionate joy" at its success.

Lee Jong-seok, a former South Korean unification minister who is now at the Sejong Institute, said the latest announcement sent a message to Washington but did not cross the line.

"What matters in negotiations between North Korea and the US is strategic, not tactical, weapons," he said. "A test of tactical weapons does not constitute a full-on provocation, but North Korea is clearly sending a defiant message to the United States. Kim Jong-un does not intend to walk out of negotiations but shows that he can 'seek a new way' in the worst case."

Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation warned against reading too much into the latest announcement, noting that experts still don't even know what system was tested in November. In neither case was anything detected by the United States, he added, implying it was some sort of short-range system.

"Pundits and policymakers should refrain from assuming this is a signal of Pyongyang deliberately ratcheting up tensions or closing the door on negotiations," he said.

Trump and Kim held a historic first summit in Singapore in June, but their second meeting nearly two months ago in Hanoi ended abruptly without any progress on efforts to dismantle North Korea's nuclear program.

In a speech last week, Kim said he would be prepared to meet Trump for a third summit, but only if the United States fundamentally changed its approach. He also warned that his patience was running out and gave the United States until the end of the year to make a "bold decision."

That followed a New Year's Day speech in which Kim threatened to seek a "new way" if the United States continued to apply sanctions pressure and demand unilateral concessions.

North Korea swore off the testing of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles after firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at the end of 2017, but it did not promise to halt the testing of all types of weapons. Trump has touted the suspension of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests as proof of the success of his negotiations with Pyongyang.

A US official familiar with monitoring operations told the Associated Press that neither US Strategic Command nor the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) had observed any weapons test. That rules out tests that go high into the atmosphere, such as a ballistic missile, but does not rule out tests at lower altitudes.

Harry Kazianis, director of Korean studies at the Center for the National Interest, said Kim was sending a signal with the weapons test.

"Kim is trying to make a statement to the Trump administration that his military potential is growing by the day, and that his regime is becoming frustrated with Washington's lack of flexibility in recent negotiations," he said. "Sadly, we are only one ICBM test away from another crisis with Pyongyang, and these smaller tests only bring us closer to such a moment."

But Duyeon Kim at the Centre for a New American Security said the test was unlikely to affect negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang in any meaningful way.

"It's not all about the US," she said. "It's just as much as, if not more, a domestic message to assure the North Korean people and military elite that summitry won't affect their national defense and strength."

Kim Jong-un also oversaw drills this week by the military's air and antiaircraft force tasked with defending the capital city of Pyongyang, state-run media reported on Wednesday.