On Thursday, the United States warned about test activity in North Korea. This is because they fear that Kim Jong-un and his regime will test a relatively new missile system. A senior official in the Biden administration has described it as a serious escalation, according to Financial Times.
The high-ranking official believes that North Korea shamelessly violates several of the UN Security Council resolutions, and fears that the test activity will increase tensions and destabilize the security situation in the region.
Associate Professor Henrik Hiim at the Department of Defense Studies at the Norwegian Defense College will not be very surprised if North Korea prepares to test a new intercontinental missile.
– It seems that the Americans experience the latest tests as possible preparations for testing a new intercontinental missile. If it is, it is not very surprising. This is because they know that North Korea has developed a new intercontinental missile that they probably want to test, Hiim tells Dagbladet and continues:
– North Korea itself has stated that they are trying to send satellites to space, but in practice this is a way of disguising that in reality it is an intercontinental missile.
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Increased activity
Hiim has noticed a change.
– North Korea has had very high test activity this year. In total, they have completed nine missile tests. If they now test intercontinental missiles, it will be the first time since 2017, Hiim says and continues:
– This is because North Korea in 2017 placed restrictions on its own test activity in connection with the diplomatic processes that took place when Donald Trump was president of the United States. Later, however, they have said that this no longer applies.
Hiim says that such testing is absolutely necessary to develop new weapons.
– North Korea often conducts missile tests to check that the new systems are working, and not necessarily to provoke.
– What do you think is the reason why they have stepped up the test activity now?
– I think it is first and foremost because they have developed new weapons that they now want to test. In addition, the diplomatic processes that took place under Trump have gone into the ditch, which removes an obstacle that existed in the past.
