North Korea slams 'hostile' US, warns of resuming nuclear & long-range missile tests

North Korea on Thursday lambasted the United States and warned that it will consider resuming all temporarily halted activities, including nuclear and long-range missile testing, that has been paused since its diplomacy with the Trump administration. The country's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un convened a meeting with the ruling Workers' Party's Politburo during which officials outlined policy goals for immediately strengthening the North's military capabilities in response to the "hostile acts" by the US, the Associated Press (AP) reported citing Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "We need to rethink the trust-building initiatives we undertook on a larger scale... and to examine the matter of restarting all temporarily halted activities as soon as possible," officials said during the meeting. 

According to experts, Kim is trying to resurrect Pyongyang's old brinkmanship playbook to extract favours from Washington and neighbours as he battles with a deteriorating economy wracked by the pandemic, mismanagement, and US-led sanctions over his nuclear ambitions. In an apparent effort to put pressure on Washington over a prolonged halt in nuclear diplomacy, the North has intensified its weapons demonstrations recently, including four rounds of missile launches just this month, the report stated. After the Biden administration imposed new sanctions last week over the North's ongoing missile testing activity, the country's Foreign Ministry warned of stronger and much specific retaliation. 

North Korea halted nuclear and ICBM tests since 2018

In 2018, Kim announced a unilateral suspension of nuclear and Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests as he began diplomacy with then-President Donald Trump in the hopes of leveraging his nuclear weapons for much-needed economic benefits. Their meeting occurred after a year of provocative nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests by North Korea. It indicated Kim's desire for a nuclear armament capable of striking the American homeland, and it led to him exchanging threats of nuclear devastation with Trump. However, negotiations have stopped since their second summit in 2019, when the US rejected North Korea's proposal for massive sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear weapons. 

UNSC to hold closed-door meeting to discuss North Korea

It should be mentioned here that North Korea conducted its sixth and final nuclear test in September 2017, and its last ICBM launch was also in the same year in the month of November. According to some experts, the North could substantially up the ante in weapons demonstrations following the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. The North has also chastised the US for continuing to conduct military drills with South Korea and arming its ally with modern weaponry. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is likely to hold a closed-door meeting on Thursday to discuss North Korea and non-proliferation issues.

(With inputs from AP)

Image: AP