North Korea hints at possible restart of nuclear or long-range missile tests
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea hinted Thursday it could resume its nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests, as top officials led by Kim Jong Un said the country was preparing for a "long-term confrontation" with the United States, state-run media reported.
Despite biting international sanctions, Pyongyang has conducted a string of weapons tests this year, including of hypersonic missiles, as leader Kim pursues his avowed goal of further strengthening the military.
Reeling economically from a self-imposed coronavirus blockade, the impoverished nation has not responded to Washington's offers of talks, while doubling down on weapons tests and vowing a "stronger and certain" response to any attempts to rein it in.
A meeting of the party Central Committee's politburo "gave an instruction to a sector concerned... to promptly examine the issue of restarting" all activities that had been temporarily suspended, state media KCNA reported, in a likely reference to Pyongyang's nuclear and ICBM (inter-continental ballistic missile) programs.
"The hostile policy and military threat by the US have reached a danger line that can not be overlooked any more," the agency said.
Kim presided over the politburo meeting where officials were presented a report analysing conditions on the Korean peninsula — and addressing "the orientation for countermeasures against the US for the future."
The potential resumption of nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests come at a delicate time in the region, with Kim's sole major ally China set to host the Winter Olympics next month and South Korea gearing up for a presidential election in March.
The North Korean leader declared a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and ICBM tests in 2018, but threatened to lift it after talks with then-president Donald Trump collapsed in 2019.
Kim reavowed his commitment to military modernisation at a key party speech last month, while not mentioning the United States.
'Destabilising activities'
Washington hit Pyongyang with fresh sanctions last week, and North Korea responded with a series of missile tests, asserting its "legitimate right" to self-defence.
North Korea has also ramped up its anti-Washington rhetoric.
"The US viciously slurred our state and committed the foolish act of taking over 20 independent sanctions measures," according to KCNA.
The agency said the politburo unanimously agreed that North Korea should "make more thorough preparation for a long-term confrontation with the U.S. imperialists," as well as "increase our physical strength for defending" the rights and interests of the nation.
Earlier this week the United States called on the country to "cease its unlawful and destabilizing activities".
The US special representative on North Korea, Sung Kim, "expressed concern" about the earlier missile launches and urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue "without preconditions", the State Department said.
Even as it flexes its military muscles, the impoverished nation has quietly restarted cross-border trade with China.
A freight train from North Korea arrived at the Chinese border city of Dandong for the first time since early 2020 last weekend.
South Korean officials were briefing the White House Thursday on the outcome of their pathfinding meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Seoul has already publicized that North Korea offered talks with the United States on denuclearization and normalizing ties, a potential diplomatic opening after a year of escalating tensions over the North's nuclear and missile tests. The rival Koreas also agreed to hold a leadership summit in late April.
Top Trump administration officials were getting a chance to hear firsthand from South Korean national security director, Chung Eui-yong, who led the delegation that went to Pyongyang. — Associated Press
South Korea's defense ministry says Thursday it was "closely monitoring" a North Korean nuclear reactor site after local media reported its operations had been temporarily suspended, potentially to extract weapons-grade plutonium.
The Donga Ilbo newspaper reports earlier in the day that intelligence sources in Seoul and Washington had detected signs the five-megawatt reactor in Yongbyon had temporarily stopped operations late last month.
The suspension could be an indication that spent fuel rods are being reprocessed to extract plutonium for use in nuclear weapons, the report cited a government source as saying. — AFP
State media reports that North Korea's rubber-stamp legislature has enshrined the country's status as a nuclear weapons power in the constitution.
"The DPRK's nuclear force-building policy has been made permanent as the basic law of the state, which no one is allowed to flout with anything," leader Kim Jong Un said at a meeting of the State People's Assembly that was held Tuesday and Wednesday, the KCNA news agency says.
DPRK is the acronym for the country's formal name. — AFP
State news agency KCNA reports that North Korea announced it had built a "tactical nuclear attack submarine" as part of its effort to strengthen its naval force.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over the unveiling ceremony on Wednesday, saying the new sub was part of a "push forward with the nuclear weaponization of the Navy in the future", according to KCNA.
The launching of submarine No. 841, named the Hero Kim Kun Ok, "heralded the beginning of a new chapter for bolstering up the naval force of the DPRK", the KCNA report said, referring to the country by the abbreviation of its formal name. — AFP
State-controlled media reports Sunday that North Korea staged a "simulated tactical nuclear attack" drill at the weekend with mock atomic warheads attached to two long-range cruise missiles that were test-fired into the ocean.
The Korean Central News Agency says the operation early Saturday was a "counteraction drill" in response to joint military activity by US and South Korean forces that KCNA said has escalated tensions in the region.
"A firing drill for simulated tactical nuclear attack was conducted at dawn of September 2 to warn the enemies of the actual nuclear war danger," KCNA reports. — AFP
Seoul's military says North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles off its west coast on Saturday, the latest in a string of recent Pyongyang military actions.
The launches come three days after the North launched a pair of short-range ballistic missiles as part of a "tactical nuclear strike drill" prompted by the annual US-South Korean Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises, which always infuriate the reclusive regime.
Pyongyang views such the drills as a rehearsal for invasion while the two allies say they are defensive in nature. — AFP
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