South Korea's spy agency claims North Korea planning 7th nuclear missile test

South Korea's spy agency has claimed that North Korea has finalised preparation for its seventh nuclear test and was assessing the timing to conduct it. Addressing a closed-door meeting, the National Intelligence Service told lawmakers that there are indications North Korea could launch an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) despite the country grappling with the COVID-19 outbreak. This comes amid fears that North Korea could stage a significant provocation during US President Joe Biden's visit to Seoul this week for a meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol.

"It would not be abnormal for North Korea to launch a missile or conduct a nuclear test at one point, as signs of such provocations are detected and Pyongyang has almost completed its preparations," Rep. Kim Byung-kee of the main Opposition Democratic Party stated, as per Yonhap news agency.

Meanwhile, Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy chief of South Korea's presidential National Security Office, claimed that the North's plans for an ICBM launch appear to be "inevitable."  Furthermore, the chief of the US Missile Defense Agency stated that although North Korea does not appear to have developed a hypersonic missile but their experiments to develop one raise concerns in the United States. 

North Korea has conducted 16 rounds of missile launches this year

Earlier in the month of January this year, North Korea claimed to have successfully test-fired a new hypersonic missile. "North Korea claims to have developed hypersonics. But in terms of what we have seen, in terms of data, I am not entirely confident that they have that capability today, but the fact that they are testing it ought to be of concern," said John Hill, the Vice-Admiral of the US Navy. 

So far this year, North Korea has undertaken 16 rounds of missile launches, including seven rounds in January itself, the most in any single month.

South Korean President urges North to pursue 'complete denuclearization'

During his inaugural speech on May 9, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that North Korea's nuclear weapons development programme poses a threat not only to South Korea's national security but to the entire region of Northeast Asia. He also recommended an "extremely ambitious approach" to collaborate with its northern counterpart if they agreed to "peacefully resolve" nuclear threats through dialogue and diplomacy. The South Korean President also encouraged Pyongyang to pursue "complete denuclearization" in order to avoid further aggravation of the Korean Peninsula situation.

(Image: AP)