According to the US government, North Korea’s latest missile tests are related to Pyongyang’s work on a new intercontinental missile system. US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said in Washington that after analyzing the ballistic missile launches in late February and early March, it was assumed that it was a new intercontinental ballistic missile system that North Korea was developing. The tests would not have taken place at full range. The purpose was probably “to evaluate this new system before a full-range test is carried out in the future”.
A senior US official called the tests a “serious escalation” by North Korea. “These launches are a brazen violation of several UN Security Council resolutions.” In response, the US Treasury Department will announce new sanctions against North Korea this Friday. “There will be a number of other measures in the coming days,” announced the US government representative, without becoming more specific. The Pentagon also said the US Indo-Pacific Command this week ordered increased intelligence reconnaissance activities in the Yellow Sea — as well as an increased readiness of ballistic missile defense forces in the region.
North Korea recently caused unrest again with missile tests in the region. According to its neighbors South Korea and Japan, the isolated country fired a ballistic missile toward the open sea in early March. North Korea itself spoke of another important test in the development of an earth observation satellite. According to Japan and South Korea, North Korea had already launched a suspected ballistic missile at the end of February and later spoke of a test for satellite development.
UN resolutions prohibit the country from testing such missiles
The US administration official said the decision was made to make public its findings on the February and March tests because the international community must speak with one voice to oppose North Korea’s further development of such weapons. Washington’s new moves should make it clear to Pyongyang “that these illegal and destabilizing activities have consequences, that the international community will not accept these actions as normal, and most importantly, that the only viable avenue for North Korea is through diplomatic negotiations.”
Kirby said the new ICBM system was first unveiled at a military parade in North Korea in October 2020. At the time, experts at the Stimson Center’s North Korean news site, 38 North, wrote that the new ICBM, presumably an Hwasong-16, appears to be around 25 to 26 meters long and thus 4 to 4.5 meters longer than the Hwasong 15, which had been tested in November 2017.
The dispute over North Korea’s nuclear program has been one of the most dangerous conflicts in international politics for years. Tensions had escalated significantly in 2017 after the country had repeatedly tested missiles and another nuclear bomb, thereby violating UN resolutions. The resolutions prohibit the country from testing such missiles, which, depending on the design, can also carry a nuclear warhead. Pyongyang’s goal has always been to develop an ICBM that can reach the United States.
Experts have been speculating for a long time that North Korea could use the Ukraine crisis to put more pressure on the US to come up with concrete proposals for new negotiations. The US government has been holding talks with Pyongyang about its nuclear weapons program for three years.
The US administration official stressed that the US is continuing to seek a diplomatic route and is ready for meetings without preconditions. US President Joe Biden himself has made it clear that he is open to speaking to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un as soon as a serious agreement based on working-level negotiations is on the table. However, the official complained that North Korea continued to fail to respond to US efforts.