SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea continued its missile program in 2022 and took steps to resume nuclear bomb testing as global events, the COVID pandemic and war fractured already weak foreign tension over it.
The country declared its first COVID-19 outbreak in May, extending already strict border closures and anti-pandemic measures, blocking foreign participation and causing economic hardship, but doing little to delay its weapons tests.
The true extent of COVID there remains unconfirmed amid a lack of independent oversight.
This year has the clearest evidence yet that North Korea is now considered a permanent nuclear force and that Pyongyang does not aim to engage the United States in denuclearization talks, said Evans Revere, a former U. S. diplomat.
“We are in harmful, uncharted territory as far as the North Korean threat is concerned,” he said. “North Korea’s denuclearization is still gone. “
North Korea has resumed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) for the first time since 2017, effectively launching the new Hwasong-17, which would have the diversity to strike anywhere in the United States.
Pyongyang has also deployed a number of capable short-range missiles, in what it says is a strategy to deploy tactical nuclear weapons.
North Korea will also reopen its closed nuclear control site, raising the possibility of new nuclear bomb control for the first time since 2017.
With the world distracted by the pandemic and war in Ukraine, and the unfolding festival between Washington and Beijing, the tests appear aimed at making genuine progress in bolstering the country’s military might, analysts said.
“North Korea may have at least claimed it was open to dialogue, but that was not the case,” said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a Korean expert at King’s College London. of the consequences. “
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
North Korea has been banned from conducting nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches for years through the United Nations Security Council, which had tightened sanctions against Pyongyang.
However, in May, China and Russia vetoed a US-led attempt to impose more UN sanctions on North Korea, publicly dividing the council for the first time since it began punishing Pyongyang in 2006.
Since then, the United States and its allies in South Korea and Japan have turned to the force’s military, adding joint training and deployments of U. S. aircraft carriers and long-range bombers, in a hitherto futile effort to deter Pyongyang’s tests.
North Korea’s missile tests have allowed it to refine and, in some cases, operationally deploy new functions that enable the first use of nuclear weapons in nuclear and traditional strikes, said Duyeon Kim of the Center for New Security.
“Tactical nuclear weapons are harmful because they can start a war, whether by miscalculation, retaliation or prevention, and the threshold for nuclear weapons would be even lower,” he said.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR 2023?
As North Korea reopens to industry and travel, it will most likely continue to engage with China and Russia and become less involved in engagement with the U. S. “The U. S. and South Korea,” Pardo said.
While it is true that Pyongyang expects the pandemic to last until 2024, it is possible that next year will only see persistent tensions.
“We may see more weapons tests, chest stances and threats until it feels virus-prone to resume negotiations and seamlessly arm itself with even more political clout to secure major concessions or indefinite popularity as a nuclear power,” Kim said.
Explore Reuters’ summary of the news that governed the year and the outlook for 2023.
(Reporting via Josh Smith; Edited through Lincoln Feast. )
This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.
This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.
This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.
This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.