This latter shot, intended to pressure the United States and South Korea, could be a way to divert the attention of the northern population of increasing internal difficulties.
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During his speech of January 1, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-One, had chosen to highlight the importance of the fight against food shortages, while continuing the strengthening of his defense. Wednesday, January 5, North Korea fired a missile that the official KCNA Agency stated to be a hypersonic model, a revolutionary gear rendering potential undetectable to such ultra-fast weapons.
From the northern province of Jagang, the missile would have “precisely struck a target at 700 kilometers from his point of departure”, according to KCNA. Pyongyang had already announced in October a missile test that can fly to five times the speed of sound, baptized “Hwasong-8”. “Repeated success of hypersonic missiles are important because they contribute to the modernization of the strategic force,” says the North Korean agency.
The new shot preceded by a few hours the inauguration, by the South Korean President Moon Jae-in, of the construction of a railway in the east of South Korea, the first step towards the establishment of a rail link between the two Korea, with the objective a connection to the transsiperian. This project was one of the commitments made at the end of the 2018 unprecedented meeting between Mr. Moon and the Northern Executive, Kim Jong-One, to revive the interceorean dialogue. “Peace on the Korean peninsula is not done on itself. Sometimes there are tensions,” said Mr. Moon with reference to the missile, while calling for not to give up dialogue.
The strengthening of interceorean relations remains a priority of the South Korean leader as the end of his term, in May. Despite the parenthesis of 2018-2019, punctuated by several meetings with Mr. Kim, his efforts did not allow real advances. His desire to officially declare the end of the War of Korea (1950-1953) – interrupted by a simple armistice – faces the intransigence of Pyongyang; North Korea agrees “on the principle”, but first requires the judgment of the “hostile policy” of the United States.
“Provocation measured”
For his part, Washington condemned the missile shot, while recalling his “commitment for a diplomatic approach” vis-à-vis North Korea, called to “engage dialogue”. A repeated speech at each missile trial – seven in 2021 – by a Biden administration that seems to have other priorities. The discussions between Americans and North Koreans have been deadlocked since the failure of the Hanoi Summit in 2019 between Kim Jong-one and Donald Trump.
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