Washington, 10 February 2022 (TDI): According to the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin talked with the Defense ministers of South Korea and Japan on February 09, to discuss the threats posed by North Korea following its missile tests.
Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK) bragged on its missile tests and claimed its existence among the handful of nuclear-capable countries of the world. During the month of January, consecutive seven launches set a new record of testing in which a new type of ‘high speed maneuverable hypersonic missile test’ was included also.
International tensions have risen in response to these missile launches and actions long banned by the U.N. Security Council. Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said by referring the North Korea’s official name that world leaders highlighted that the DPRK’s ballistic missile launches are disruptive and intimidating to regional security and a blatant violation of repeated United Nations Security Council resolutions.
South Korean Defense Minister, Suh Wook described the launches as a “direct and severe threat,” proposing to enhance reaction capabilities based on the US alliance. Further, his office said that the three Ministers opined to hold an in-person meeting in the near future without specifying a date at the subject issue.
According to an excerpt of a confidential United Nations report, North Korea continued to expand its nuclear and ballistic missile programme during the last year. While cyberattacks on cryptocurrency exchanges were the significant source of revenue for Pyongyang.
North Korea has improved its missiles’ ability to evade missile defenses, created new systems that can be hidden or attacked from a variety of positions, and assured that existing models are dependable and effective.
The tests also enable to project government’s power at a time when the country is facing economic challenges, and they are likely viewed as a tactic for encouraging national pride ahead of major holidays denoting the 80th birthday of Kim Jong Un’s late father, Kim Jong Il, on February 16 and the 110th birthday of his late grandfather, Kim Il Sung, on April 15.
Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow with the Indo-Pacific Security Program at CNAS said that even if Washington was not engrossed with conflicts like Russia it had the throughput to pay more attention to the North Korean nuclear issue.
Pyongyang would probably refuse direct talks due to the pandemic, but DPRK keeps perfecting its weapons technology and maintaining its high price tag for talks synchronously. Further, it has been said that it is to build leverage ahead of any future diplomatic negotiations is an automatic benefit of said testings.
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