Reuters
Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader.
A US think tank has warned that North Korea could test-launch a new ICBM during the first months of 2021, if the nuclear negotiations between Seoul and Washington remain frozen.
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The Asan Institute for Policy Studies, in its forecast of international political developments for 2021, reminded that Pyongyang had previously made provocations in the past whenever a new administration came to the White House to test its position or attract its attention. Therefore, the American Studies Institute adds, Pyongyang “will consider playing the ICBM launch card, in a desperate effort to break out of the blockage that may become more dangerous than it was during the Trump administration.”
The institute indicated that North Korea may test the launch of a missile from a submarine in the depths of the sea or short-range missiles to test Washington’s position, before heading later to test launch an ICBM. However, the “Asan” Institute does not rule out the hypothesis that Pyongyang will launch this missile by the beginning of the new year in a preemptive effort to impose a fait accompli aimed at achieving recognition of North Korea as a nuclear power and aborting Joe Biden’s strategy in the bud.
It should be noted that the negotiations on North Korean nuclear capabilities between Pyongyang and Washington have not progressed a single step since President Trump’s sterile meeting with the North Korean leader at the beginning of 2019 in Hanoi.
On the other hand, North Korea has not stopped developing its military capabilities, despite the economic embargo during Donald Trump’s tenure, according to the US agency “Bloomberg”, which considers that the embargo accelerated the pace of the North Korean military reaction. Pyongyang has strengthened its military capabilities, during the past 4 years, with at least 3 ICBMs capable of striking sites on the territory of the United States of America.
Source: South Korean agency “Yonhap” (in English) / “Agency” “Bloombeg” of America (in English)
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