North Korea Conducts 'Crucial' Test at Long-Range Rocket Launch Site
As talks between North Korea and the United States remain stalled, North Korea has conducted what it termed a “crucial test” at a site dedicated to launching intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellites.
The test was conducted on Friday at the Sohae satellite launch site, Reuters reported.
The official news agency KCNA announced the test without saying exactly what was tested.
North Korean Chief of the General Staff Pak Jong Chon said the tests are part of the country’s effort to build new weapons, according to Reuters.
“The priceless data, experience and new technologies gained in the recent tests of defense science research will be fully applied to the development of another strategic weapon of the DPRK for definitely and reliably restraining and overpowering the nuclear threat of the U.S.,” he said. The initials he used stand for the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The point seems to be to remind the United States that North Korea still has space to qualitatively advance its program,” said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Federation of American Scientists, Reuters reported.
“We had a good hint that whatever they were doing at Sohae was military in nature when the Academy of Defence Science took charge of the announcement, as opposed to NADA, their space agency,” Panda added.
“[T]he test would likely be related to ICBMs, which North Korea considers a strategic weapon to defend itself from adversaries including the United States,” Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University in Seoul, said.
“North Korea is close to issuing an ultimatum toward the United States to come to the negotiating table with new calculations or to return to developing nuclear weapons,” Koh said.
As noted by the BBC, North Korea has threatened a “Christmas gift” if the U.S. does not give way in the stalled talks.
The test is the second within a week at a site North Korea once promised it would close.
KCNA said another test took place on Dec. 7. It did not give details.
South Korean defense minister Jeong Keong-doo said the Dec. 7 operation was an engine test, according to Reuters.
Speaking before the second test, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the U.S. would be “tested soon” in terms of getting North Korea to negotiate.
“They [North Korea] are still doing training, they do short range ballistic missile tests that we are also concerned about,” he said, according to Reuters.
“We watch closely as do South Korea and Japan … The State Department is trying to get them to the table, because the only way forward is through a diplomatic and political agreement,” Esper said.
Pak said in his statement that North Korea was working to be ready for both “dialogue and confrontation.”
“Genuine peace can be safeguarded and our development and future be guaranteed only when the balance of power is completely ensured,” he said, according to Reuters.
Pak also warned the U.S. not to provoke North Korea, or its dictator Kim Jong Un.
“Our army is fully ready to thoroughly carry out any decision of the Supreme Leader with action,” he said.
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