The four supersonic missile launches launched by North Korea in the past two weeks could only be the beginnings of renewed tension on the peninsula. The North Korean news agency KCNA spoke on Thursday, January 20, of the possible resumption of tests of long-range missiles likely to carry a nuclear warhead.
The country must prepare for a long drawn confrontation “with the United States and” all activities temporarily suspended “must resume, announces the Rodong Sinmun, organ of the labor party. This decision was made during a meeting of the political bureau under the leadership of leader Kim Jong-un.
Following the failure of talks with Donald Trump in 2019, Kim Jong-un announced that he was no longer bound by his commitment to suspend long-range missile tests taken a year earlier in order to facilitate rapprochement with States. -United. In recent weeks, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has fired four supersonic tactical missiles, the last of which on January 17. Ballistic missile tests resumed in September 2021 with six shots, including one from a train and another from a submarine.
“Hostile Stance”
After these shootings, Washington imposed new sanctions on the DPRK. Washington’s designation of six North Koreans, residents of China, a Russian and a Russian company accused of participating in Pyongyang’s ballistic programs prompted a reaction from the Chinese Foreign Ministry which argued that ” sanctions do nothing to solve the Korean problem “.
The threat of resumption of ballistic missile testing is not new in itself: during the Labor Party Congress in January 2021, Kim Jong-un had already announced his desire to continue these programs. The new US sanctions were perceived by Pyongyang “ as a clear indication of American intentions “says Ankit Panda, researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Nuclear Policy Program, quoted by the site NK News. And Pyongyang reacted.
On several occasions, the Biden administration has expressed its readiness to resume dialogue with the DPRK unconditionally. What this one refuses considering that as long as the United States will maintain a “hostile stance against him (in other words, the sanctions), the dialogue is pointless.
Encourage the United States to make concessions
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