North Korea may be planning its first nuclear weapons test in nearly five years, according to a senior US official, who urged the regime to refrain from further provocations after its latest long-range missile test.
Sung Kim, the special envoy for North Korea policy at the US State Department, said Washington believes Pyongyang could demonstrate its growing nuclear weapons capability on April 15, an annual holiday celebrating the 110th birthday of the country’s founder, Kim Il. sung.
“We are concerned that the DPRK may be tempted to take another provocative measure in connection with the upcoming anniversary,” Kim told reporters on Wednesday, using the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He added: “I don’t want to speculate too much but I think it could be another rocket launch, it could be a nuclear test.
“Hopefully the anniversary can pass without further escalation.”
North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, four of them under current ruler Kim Jong-un. The most recent test in 2017 was followed by a self-imposed moratorium as Kim prepared for his first denuclearization summit with Donald Trump the following year.
The Biden administration has called for talks to resume “without preconditions,” but clarified that the goal would be to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear deterrent, a concession few analysts believe Kim Jong-un is willing to make do as long as he believes the US is a threat to his regime.
The North has continued to ignore Washington’s offers to resume discussions on removing all nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula, Sung Kim said.
“We have not received any reply from Pyongyang, which is very disappointing because we have sent several public and private messages inviting them to an unconditional dialogue,” he said.
“Instead, they have initiated a series of missile tests, recently culminating in at least three ICBM launches. These actions pose a serious threat to regional stability.”
He added: “The DPRK is isolated in an unprecedented way. It shut down during the Covid pandemic. Only the resumption of diplomacy can break this isolation, and only then can we resume the important work that was done before.”
Sung Kim said China — the North’s key ally and largest trading partner — and Russia would not help Joe Biden’s push to resume talks with the North Korean leader.
Negotiations to contain the Pyongyang nuclear threat appeared to be making headway under Trump, but were then halted after he and Kim failed to agree to lift sanctions in return for verifiable steps to dismantle the North’s nuclear arsenal.
US and South Korean officials said Pyongyang appears to be repairing underground tunnels at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which it allegedly demolished in 2018 to show its readiness for denuclearization.
After Biden took office, North Korea began a series of missile tests — 13 in all — culminating in the launch last month of a ballistic missile that could theoretically deliver a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.
On Tuesday, Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister Kim Yo-jong warned that Pyongyang would use its nuclear weapons to “eliminate” the South Korean army should it launch a pre-emptive strike.
Sung Kim said Washington is pushing for a new resolution condemning Pyongyang’s actions at the UN Security Council.
However, he noted that in six previous efforts this year, Russia and China have “consistently blocked our efforts to produce a public statement from the United Nations.”
He said: “We believe that the unprecedented number of DPRK ballistic missile launches this year and the instability they bring to the Korean Peninsula is obviously in nobody’s interest and we call for it.” [China]and Russia to work with us to send a very clear message through the Security Council that North Korea’s actions are unacceptable.”