North Korea on Thursday promised a possible restart of nuclear and long-range missile tests. This is reported by the official North Korean agency KCNA.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called a meeting of the powerful politburo of the ruling Workers’ Party on Wednesday. He wanted to discuss “important policy issues”, including measures against American policy that North Korea has long labelled as hostile. That reports KCNA.
Out of that meeting came a decision to potentially restart nuclear and long-range missile tests.
Washington’s hostility and threats have “reached a danger line,” it said. For example, North Korea will not allow the US and South Korea to conduct joint military exercises. The dictatorial regime also dislikes the deployment of advanced US strategic weapons in the region and the implementation of independent and UN sanctions.
“We need to prepare more thoroughly for a prolonged confrontation with the American imperialists,” the politburo concluded.
North Korea’s warning came just hours before the UN Security Council was scheduled to meet behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss North Korea’s recent missile tests. That meeting was held at the request of the United States and several other countries.
President Joe Biden held a lengthy press conference on Wednesday to mark his first year at the White House. Although he extensively addressed questions about tensions between Ukraine and Russia, he did not say a word about North Korea.
The South Korean government reports that it is monitoring and standing by North Korea’s winter exercises. The Defense Department calls the recent missile tests “serious threats.” The Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean ties, warned of further escalation and said the peninsula should not go back to its aggressive past. Dialogue and diplomacy are the only way forward, it sounds.