SEOUL (Dispatches) – North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile Saturday, Seoul’s military said, continuing this year’s record-breaking blitz of weapons tests with a launch just days before South Korea’s presidential election.
From hypersonic to medium-range ballistic missiles, Pyongyang test-fired a string of weaponry in January and last week launched what it said was a component of a “reconnaissance satellite” -- although Seoul described it as another ballistic missile.
Despite biting international sanctions over its nuclear weapons, Pyongyang has ignored U.S. offers of talks since high-profile negotiations between leader Kim Jong-un and then-U.S. president Donald Trump collapsed in 2019.
Pyongyang has doubled-down on Kim’s drive to modernize its military, warning in January that it could abandon a self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons.
Despite its insistence on North Korea’s denuclearization, Washington has fiercely refused to reciprocate by downgrading its massive military presence and activities in the Korean Peninsula.
The development comes a week after China’s President Xi Jinping underlined the significance of Beijing’s cooperation with Pyongyang in a message to North Korea’s leader.
Xi further emphasized that China is ready to “develop the China-DPRK relations of friendship and cooperation” under a “new situation,” KCNA said on February 26, referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Back in January, Kim had protested new U.S. sanctions against Pyongyang as well as its persisting military cooperation with rival South Korea, calling on officials to “examine” the issue of resuming long-range missile and nuclear testing after he imposed a moratorium on such activities in early 2018.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden imposed its latest sanctions against Pyongyang last month. It further called on the UNSC to take action against several North Korean individuals and entities accused of violating resolutions that ban the North’s missile and nuclear weapons development.
Reacting to the move, a Pyongyang’s foreign ministry spokesperson emphasized in a statement last month that the new U.S. sanctions underscore hostile American intent aimed at “isolating and stifling” North Korea despite Washington’s repeated calls for the North to resume diplomacy.
“The U.S. is intentionally escalating the situation even with the activation of independent sanctions, not content with referring the DPRK’s just activity to the UN Security Council,” the statement said.
The spokesperson said that the North’s development of the new missile is part of its efforts to modernize its military and explained that it does not target any specific country or threaten the security of its neighbors.