Seoul: North Korea will strengthen its defenses against the United States and consider resuming “all temporarily suspended activities”, state media KCNA reported on Thursday in a statement on its testing of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. Made a clear reference to the self-imposed moratorium.
Tensions are rising over the recent series of North Korean missile tests. US pressure for the new sanctions was followed by a sharp reaction from Pyongyang, raising fears of a return to the so-called “fire and fury” threat period of 2017.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s powerful Politburo on Wednesday to discuss “important policy issues”, including counter-arguments over “hostile” US policy, the official KCNA news agency said.
The Politburo ordered a reconsideration of confidence-building measures and to “immediately investigate the issue of the resumption of all temporarily suspended activities”, while calling for “immediately strengthen more powerful physical means”, KCNA said.
The Politburo’s decision appears to be a step beyond Kim’s previous remarks in late 2019 that he will no longer be bound by a moratorium on testing of nuclear weapons and long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), as the United States responded. was not given. A call for concessions to reopen negotiations.
Citing joint US-South Korea military exercises, the deployment of state-of-the-art US strategic weapons in the region and the implementation of independent and UN sanctions, the report said Washington’s policy and military threats “have reached the danger line”.
The Politburo concluded, “We must prepare more thoroughly for a long-term confrontation with the American imperialists.”
The US State Department and White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Biden made no mention of North Korea during the nearly two-hour news conference held on Wednesday to mark his first year in office.
“We should be prepared for more saber-rattling designed to create a war-like environment – and possibly more provocation testing,” said Gene Lee, a fellow at the Washington-based Wilson Center, adding that Kim would not be able to use further weapons. Will use every opportunity to justify the test.
‘vicious circle’
Yang Moo-jin said North Korea could possibly test a long-range missile or other powerful weapon in February and April to mark the 80th and 110th birthdays of Kim’s late father and grandfather. Professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
“It is possible that the situation may go back into the vicious cycle of stimuli and sanctions seen in 2017,” he said.
After testing a ballistic missile capable of striking the US mainland in 2017, North Korea flaunted a flurry of diplomacy and has not tested its ICBMs or nuclear weapons since.
But it began testing a series of new short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) after a failed summit in 2019 stalled nuclear disarmament talks and came back to a standstill.
Pyongyang has defended missile launches as its sovereign right of self-defense and accused Washington of imposing double standards on weapons testing.
After two launches of “hypersonic missiles” capable of high-speed and maneuverable lift-off, North Korea conducted its fourth missile test on Monday, the second involving a railway-borne missile system.
The unusually rapid pace of launches prompted condemnation from the US and a push for new UN sanctions, and Pyongyang threatened strong action.
Jenny Towns, director of the 38 North program of the Washington-based Stimson Center, said that despite its strong language, the Politburo report had been “ratcheted up or down rhetoric as she sees fit” based on future developments for Kim. left the place.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington, said the Biden administration needs to lead more concerted, high-level international efforts to restart talks on step-by-step action toward peace and denuclearization. Is.
“North Korea’s nuclear and missile problems have not disappeared and will continue to grow in the absence of proactive, serious diplomacy,” he said.
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