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North Korea test-launched a cruise missile on January 22, just after US President Joe Biden’s inauguration (January 20, early morning January 21, Korean time), a plurality of Government sources who requested anonymity on the 24th. According to the sources, North Korea fired two shots into the western sea in January near Guseong, North Pyongan province. This means that North Korea has already pressured the Biden administration with missiles before the test launch of North Korea’s short-range cruise missile on 21 this month, US media such as the Washington Post (WP) reported.
Government sources “Two short distances to the West Sea”
The drum seems to show its helplessness as it adjusts the water level.
According to military authorities, North Korea launched two planes at once into the West Sea from the Oncheon area of South Pyongan province on the morning of 21 this month, which was deemed a cruise missile for flying distances. short at low height. altitude. Sources estimated that the cruise missile launched on the 21st of this month is the same as the model launched in January. It is an assessment that North Korea showed its power and presence while adjusting the water level in line with the inauguration of the Biden administration.
A military official said: “The military has identified (cruise missile launches) in real time and captured related matters in close cooperation between the United States and Korea on the 21st.” Military authorities view North Korean cruise missiles as a power development primarily aimed at US troops attempting to approach or land in North Korea.
A senior US administration official also confirmed the launch in an emergency briefing the same day, saying: “This falls within the category of normal North Korean military activity and does not violate the UN Security Council resolution. on sanctions against North Korea “. This means that the launch of cruise missiles is not considered a provocation and, for this reason, the intention of the Biden administration is not to increase tensions between North Korea and the United States.
The UN Security Council bans North Korea’s nuclear tests and all ballistic missile launches, but does not include cruise missiles. North Korea is presumed to launch a cruise missile that has a relatively weaker political and military impact than ballistic missiles.
North Korea fires cruise missiles on the 21st … Sanctions violation is damage
North Korea has sent a message to the United States by launching a missile test in time with American political events. On July 4, America’s Independence Day last year, it launched a cruise missile into the East Sea.
North Korea’s missile launch on 21 this month is seen as a low-intensity armed demonstration that paves the way for “further provocation” while preventing violations of the UN Security Council resolution. This time, the water level was adjusted, but it showed that the water level can be raised as high as possible according to the direction of the new policy towards North Korea by the Biden administration, which will be released soon. . The WP also assessed on the 24th that “Kim Jong-un took the first challenge towards Biden, while the US countermeasures against the North Korean nuclear threat have yet to be outlined.”
With North Korea declining to speak to the Biden administration and launching cruise missiles one after another, the possibility of an early resumption of the US-North Korean dialogue that the government hopes is dwindling. While President Biden expressed skepticism on the 23rd (local time) saying, “North Korea hasn’t changed much,” the weight of the main response to North Korea is also on tripartite discussions on the Korean nuclear issue. North held in Washington below. week. It is likely to load.
According to one analysis, North Korea’s missile launch was designed with both the United States and China in mind. North Korea launched a missile after watching the meeting of the Korea-United States (2 + 2) defense and diplomacy ministers on the 18th, the interview with President Moon Jae-in of the US Secretary of State and Defense, and the high level The US-China talks in Alaska on the 18th and 19th did. After confirming how the discussions of key countries surrounding the Korean peninsula took place, the missile was fired again.
Professor Park Won-gon from Ewha Women’s University said: “The reason North Korea launched a test launch after seeing how the talks with the US and China were progressing is because it decided that it would be possible to have a Solid advantage on the -Scale of negotiations with the United States only with the back of China. “The exchange movement is also in the extension of that,” he said.
There are also observations that North Korean armed demonstrations may continue for a time. This is because North Korea’s military activities are both a warning message to the Biden administration and an expression of the will to strengthen national defense capabilities expressed through the 8th Party Congress in January.
Kim Dong-yeop, a professor at the North Korean Graduate School, predicted that “North Korea will implement the modernization of its military by developing new weapons in accordance with its plan.” It is also assessed that the reactivation of the peace process on the Korean peninsula, which the Moon Jae-in government has set as a key objective within the mandate, is being mobilized in a situation in which the North and the United States are pulling on the brakes. . instead of dialogue.
Washington = correspondent Park Hyun-young, reporters Park Yong-han and Park Hyun-joo [email protected]
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