Yahoo News North Korea conducts new 'long-range missile test' ramping up tensions ahead of 'Christmas gift' deadline for US
North Korea says it has conducted a new test at its missile launch site, ramping up international tensions just weeks before its promised “Christmas gift” for the United States.
Through its state news agency, the regime announced it had completed another “crucial test” at its long-range rocket facility in Sohae.
It is not clear what exactly was tested, but experts believe North Korea is trying to develop the capacity for rockets which could carry nuclear payloads as far as the US.
A senior North Korean military leader said recent test aimed to subdue nuclear threats from the US, state media reported on Saturday.
Chief of the General Staff Pak Jong Chon warned that "hostile forces", including America, should not provoke his nation if they wanted to see a peaceful New Year.
Earlier this month, Kim Jong-un’s administration issued a veiled threat about Christmas “gifts”, demanding the Americans offer substantial sanctions relief by 31 December. If not, the country will walk away from denuclearisation talks.
“The dialogue touted by the US is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea bound to dialogue,” a senior official said.
“What is left to be done now is the US option and it is entirely up to the US what Christmas gift it will select to get.”
A spokesperson was quoted on Saturday as saying the latest successful test “will be applied to further bolster up the reliable strategic nuclear deterrent of the DPRK”.
North Korea has carried out several short-range missile tests in recent months, as negotiations with America have floundered.
The reclusive dictatorship has a history of calling its missile tests “gifts”. After it first tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in July 2017 Mr Kim referred to the weapon as a “package of gifts” in time for America’s Fourth of July celebrations.
But in 2018 the two sides met face to face at several summits and North Korea stopped testing longer-range rockets which could reach American soil.
Analysts fear the latest test at Sohae could be a precursor to restarting these more provocative launches if North Korea decides it will not be given the sanctions relief it wants from the current talks.
On Wednesday the US Ambassador to the UN, Kelly Craft, told a UN Security Council meeting North Korea’s actions were “deeply counterproductive” and could end all hopes for a peace deal.
In response, the Kim regime called her remarks and the gathering itself a “hostile provocation”.
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