“Pyongyang used to test new weapons to test Washington’s response,” according to a report by South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies
The DPRK could test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the first months of President-elect Joseph Biden’s administration if U.S.-North Korean nuclear talks do not break the stalemate. The Yonhap news agency reported this on Tuesday, citing a report by South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
“Pyongyang used to test new weapons to test Washington’s response and put pressure on the new U.S. administration”, – Yonhap quoted the report by Asan analysts as saying. – “With such tests, North Korea also sought to demonstrate its status as a ‘nuclear power’ and gain the agreement of the international community with it.”
According to Asan experts, Biden’s expressed intention to negotiate with Pyongyang on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula at the working level instead of holding bilateral summits means a slower and more disadvantageous way for the DPRK to further engage the two countries.
“Biden’s shaping of future U.S. foreign policy involves a 180-degree turn from Trump’s diplomacy, which included his face-to-face meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018 in Singapore and in February 2019 in Hanoi”, – the report suggests. – “After that, talks between Pyongyang and Washington have reached a stalemate that will be slow to break under Biden.”
A military parade in Pyongyang in October to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea showcased new ballistic missiles, including the upgraded Hwasong-15, with an estimated range of 12,874 km, capable of reaching anywhere on the US mainland.