[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] North Korea has announced that it is considering resuming intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches and nuclear tests, which it had suspended since 2018. This move is seen as a pressure card against the United States on the first anniversary of President Joe Biden's inauguration, raising concerns about negative impacts on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Korean Central News Agency reported on the 20th that the Political Bureau of the Workers' Party Central Committee convened the 6th meeting of the 8th term on the 19th, attended by Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party, to discuss the direction of response toward the United States, including this matter.
The agency stated that at the meeting, "Instructions were given to the relevant sectors to promptly review the issue of fully reconsidering the confidence-building measures we had proactively taken and reactivating all activities that had been temporarily suspended." Previously, North Korea had declared a moratorium on nuclear tests and ICBM test launches at the Workers' Party Central Committee plenary meeting in April 2018, ahead of the Singapore Summit, including dismantling the nuclear test site, but now it intends to withdraw that declaration.
This is interpreted as a response following the breakdown of the Hanoi summit during the Trump administration and the lack of improvement in North Korea-US relations even after the Biden administration took office last year. In particular, as North Korea's missile provocations have continued recently, the United States convened the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The agency explained the reason, saying, "Despite our sincere efforts to maintain a major phase of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula since the Singapore DPRK-US summit, the US hostile policy and military threats have reached a dangerous line that can no longer be tolerated." North Korea's move comes just one week after the Biden administration imposed sanctions related to North Korea's ballistic missiles and one day before the UNSC's closed meeting on North Korea's missile issue (at 5 a.m. Korean time on the 21st).
Signs of North Korea preparing a military parade have also been detected. A government official said, "We are closely monitoring when and how the parade will be conducted."
An official from the Ministry of Unification stated, "The government is watching recent North Korean developments with tension," adding, "To avoid returning to past situations where tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated and inter-Korean relations deteriorated, dialogue and diplomacy are the only answers to move toward a peaceful future." He further said, "We will closely consult with related countries to manage the situation on the Korean Peninsula stably."
This indication of lifting the moratorium increases the likelihood that inter-Korean and North Korea-US relations will revert to the state before the Singapore Summit. The achievements of the Moon Jae-in administration, which managed inter-Korean relations through the 'Korean Peninsula Peace Process' over the past four years, are now at risk of being undone, requiring close cooperation between the South Korean and US governments.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
