Missile test fears grow as Kim demands ‘offensive measures’
KIM JONG-UN, the North Korean leader, has called for “positive and offensive measures” to ensure national security ahead of his year-end deadline for the resumption of nuclear talks with the US, raising the prospect of a much-anticipated major weapons test.
His announcement, at a meeting of top party officials on Sunday, and reported by KCNA, the state newswire, yesterday, coincided with a warning from the US that it was prepared to take action if North Korea delivered on a threat of a “Christmas gift”, including a potential long-range missile test-fire.
“If Kim Jong-un takes that approach, we’ll be extraordinarily disappointed and we’ll express that disappointment,” Robert O’brien, the national security adviser, said on ABC’S This Week when asked whether the US would respond to a North Korean provocation.
Under a self-imposed moratorium, North Korea has not tested a longrange missile or nuclear warheads since 2017.
The US and its regional Asian allies have been on nervous standby for an escalation in tensions on the Korean peninsula since Pyongyang warned of a “gift” in mid-december due to Mr Kim’s frustrations that Washington had not responded to his demands to soften its approach to nuclear talks.
Mr Kim has made clear he expects concessions, including the lifting of sanctions, by the end of December, to kick-start stalled negotiations on his nuclear and weapons programmes. North Korea urged Washington to offer a new approach to resume negotiations, and warned that it may take an unspecified “new path” if the US failed to meet its expectations.
Mr Kim’s decision to convene a meeting of top party officials to pore over matters such as foreign affairs, armaments and the defence industry, has increased expectations of a major policy announcement.
The meeting – the largest of the party’s central command since 2013, with some 300 attendees – is still under way.
At Sunday’s session, Mr Kim stressed the need to take “positive and offensive measures for fully ensuring the sovereignty and security of the country,” KCNA said, without elaborating.
Mr Kim discussed state management and economic issues, including measures to improve agriculture, science, education, public health and the environment, it said, as the country’s economy has been hit by international sanctions over its weapons programmes.