North Korea Won't Stop Missile Tests Anytime Soon According To South Korea
North Korea will not be stopping its arms tests anytime soon. This is the dire warning from the rogue state's southern neighbour who said that the Kim regime will not cease its long-range ballistic missile capabilities next year in order to gain leverage enough to force Washington to make concessions.
"Re-entry is a question North Korea must solve to boost its negotiating leverage and for its military and technological purposes," Shin Beom-chul, a security analyst, said in a report published over the weekend by the government-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul. "For North Korea, there is a big difference between entering negotiations with the United States after acquiring full ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capabilities and starting such talks without them."
The hermit kingdom has made huge strides in missile development over the past year having developed ICBMs capable of carrying warheads to Hawaii and Alaska. A few weeks ago, the North tested its most powerful missile yet seemingly without a care for the inevitable sanctions that would come.
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After the test, North Korea also announced that it has completed building its nuclear force. However, the country still needs to cross one major technological hurdle – how to make its warheads survive re-entry.
As such, there is very little chance the country will cease advancing its nuclear capabilities in 2018 despite its claims of completion. It will likely conduct at least one more test to master re-entry technology and will do so before the newly imposed sanctions begin to squeeze its economy.
The Kim regime's quest for nuclear capability has already cost his people dearly. Nevertheless, 2017 has been a great year for "Little Rocket Man" despite being humiliated when his rockets exploded during testing. He finally achieved what his father cannot, which is causing the United States much alarm.
That is exactly what the rogue state wants according to Seoul, for Washington to recognize it as a nuclear weapons state. For a country without any natural resources, strategic value, or a formidable military, this is the ultimate bargaining chip to bring to the table.
First order of business will likely be the easing sanctions and reducing the American military presence around the Korean Peninsula. In return, according to analysts, Pyongyang will freeze its ICBM capabilities whilst still retain its nuclear capabilities likely under the guise of "peaceful" applications such as nuclear energy.
Nevertheless, such a deal will be akin to bargaining with the devil himself and will likely cost US prestige, if not more.
