World braces for new NK nuke test
Pyongyang holds massive live- fire drill on military anniversary
North Korea conducted a massive livefire drill around the city of Wonsan on Tuesday as the US and its allies braced for another possible nuclear test on the founding anniversary of North Korea’s military.
North Korea conducted a conventional military drill instead of a nuclear test as a US aircraft carrier- led strike group approached peninsular waters and amid China’s stern warnings, experts said.
However, analysts said a North Korean nuclear test is still highly possible before an April 28 UN Security Council meeting on its denuclearization.
“A military drill is less of a provoca- tion than a nuclear test. North Korea made this choice [ of not conducting a nuclear test] for fear of possible US attacks or a full oil embargo by China. But it also wanted
to defy the international community with the live- fire drill,” Jin Qiangyi, director of the Asia Studies Center at Yanbian University, told the Global Times.
Countries pursuing North Korean denuclearization are eyeing greater sanctions on Pyongyang.
Experts reached by the Global Times said the possibility of China implementing a full oil embargo is increasing if North Korea keeps provoking.
A full oil embargo will be the toughest sanctions China can take as North Korea relies heavily on Chinese energy and it will severely affect North Korean lives and the country’s political situation, Jin said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Tuesday that China and North Korea have maintained normal exchanges.
“The situation on the Korean Peninsula is highly complicated and tense and we urge all parties to exercise restraint and avoid actions that aggravate tensions,” Geng said. Geng also said that China’s nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, visited Japan on Tuesday.
The US nuclear- powered submarine, USS Michigan, arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday in a show of force, and top envoys on North Korean policy from South Korea, Japan and the US met in Tokyo, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford will also hold a rare briefing for the US Senate on North Korea on Wednesday. Tillerson will also chair a special UN Security Council ministerial meeting on North Korea on Friday, Reuters reported.
In the meantime, the South Korean navy and US destroyers conducted a joint live- fire exercise on Tuesday west of the Korean Peninsula. The destroyers will join the US aircraft carrier strike group that is approaching the region.
North Korea responded to the mounting international pressure with a defiant commentary on Tuesday in its official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. The commentary said, “There is no limit to the striking power of the People’s Army, armed with cutting- edge military equipment including various precision and miniaturized nuclear weapons and submarine- launched ballistic missiles.”
“North Korea may avoid conducting a test on Tuesday, but it may not be long, since its nuclear plan has entered a pivotal phase. And it seems that nothing can stop its resolve to possess nuclear weapons,” Jin said.
Jin said that the five countries – China, Russia, US, South Korea and Japan – should hold talks in hopes of persuading North Korea to freeze its nuclear program.
Damaged tourism
As North Korea celebrated the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, Quanhe Port in Hunchun, Northeast China’s Jilin Province bordering North Korea was closed.
An employee at a nearby shop said that vehicles from China normally go to North Korea through the port from Monday to Saturday to bring back seafood and edible wild herbs.
The port in Tumen was also closed, but a number of Chinese visitors took pictures of other side of the Tumen River, which separates the two countries, while border police officers were stationed along the river.
A local resident said police patrols have been more frequent recently since anticipation of a North Korean nuclear test has grown.
But many tourists still traveled to border cities, including Hunchun and Tumen, to take a glimpse of North Korea from the Chinese side.
Tourists from China and other countries visited the Fangchuan Scenic Spot in the city of Hunchun, which borders North Korea and Russia, on Tuesday. However, there was no traffic flow on a bridge connecting Russia and North Korea.
Two South Korean visitors said they felt bad over the living conditions of North Koreans, as “it is absurd to develop nuclear weapons” when the country is struggling to feed its people.