Joint efforts are aimed at dealing with any possible activity, particularly relating to ballistic missile threats, said US commander on the Korean peninsula General Robert Abrams
The US has no data on possible preparations in the DPRK to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the near future. General Robert Abrams, commander of US forces on the Korean Peninsula, said this on Monday, speaking in a video conference at the Institute for Korean-American Studies.
Asked about the possibility of Pyongyang conducting an ICBM test earlier this year, the general said, “I am not aware of any such reports.” “Our joint efforts are aimed at dealing with any possible activity, <…> in particular relating to ballistic missile threats,” he added.
At the same time, Abrams was sceptical about an October 2020 military parade in Pyongyang to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. “We have to be cautious in assuming that all these [weapons] are fully combat-ready systems. We don’t need to fall into that trap,” he said. – We have no people on the ground to see what is real and what is just a visual tool. I wouldn’t be surprised if it then turns out to be a facade of aspirations for what they [the DPRK] want to develop.”
Yonhap news agency claimed in late December, citing a report by South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, that the DPRK could test an intercontinental ballistic missile in the early months of US President-elect Joseph Biden’s administration if US-North Korean nuclear talks do not break the impasse. In October, a military parade showcased new ballistic missiles, including the upgraded Hwasong-15, with an estimated range of 12,874km, capable of reaching anywhere on the US mainland.