North Korea conducts ‘very important test’ at launch site in message to Trump

North Korea on Sunday said it carried out a “very important test” at its long-range rocket launch site that it had reportedly rebuilt after partially dismantling it at the start of denuclearisation talks with the United States last year. The announcement came amid dimming prospects for a resumption of negotiations, with North Korea threatening to seek “a new way” if it failed to get major US concessions by the end of the year. Pyongyang has said its resumption of nuclear and long-range missile tests depends on Washington. “A very important test was carried out at the Sohae Satellite Launch on December 7, 2019,” a spokesman for the North’s National Academy of Science said. The result of the latest test will have an “important effect” on changing the “strategic position” of North Korea, the spokesman said in a statement carried by the KCNA news agency. But missile experts said it appeared likely the North Koreans had conducted a static test of a rocket engine, rather than a missile launch. “Judging from the fact that the announcement about the test was made by military authorities, I suspect it was aimed at testing a new solid-fuel engine for ICBMs,” said Professor Yang Moo-jin from the University of North Korean Studies. “Had it been about testing a booster for its next satellite launch, the announcement would have been made by its space authorities, rather than military.” Kim sends signal from sacred mountain as Trump revives ‘rocket man’ jibe The use of solid fuel increases a weapon’s mobility and reduces the amount of launch preparation time. The long-range rockets that North Korea used in either ICBM launches or satellite lift-offs in recent years all used liquid propellants. “Rockets that use it are usually safer and simpler and ready to fire,” said Kim Dong-yub, a defence analyst at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University in Seoul. CNN reported on Friday that a new satellite image indicated North Korea may be preparing to resume testing engines used to power satellite launchers and intercontinental ballistic missiles at the site. Seoul’s Defence Ministry said in a brief statement later on Sunday that South Korea and the US were closely monitoring activities at the Sohae site and other key North Korean areas. President Donald Trump earlier said he had persuaded North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to close the site when the pair met in Singapore in June 2018. When evidence emerged that North Korea was rebuilding the site, Trump said in March that he would be “very, very disappointed” with Kim if that proved to be the case but that he did not believe it would be. On Sunday, he again expressed confidence that Kim would not betray their agreement, but he also made an implicit threat to the North Korean leader. “Kim Jong-un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way. He signed a strong Denuclearisation Agreement with me in Singapore,” Trump wrote. Kim Jong Un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way. He signed a strong Denuclearization Agreement with me in Singapore. He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of the United States or interfere.... https://t.co/THfOjfB2uE — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2019 “He does not want to void his special relationship with the President of the United States or interfere with the US Presidential Election in November. North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, has tremendous economic potential, but it must denuclearise as promised. Nato, China, Russia, Japan, and the entire world is unified on this issue!” On Saturday, Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in discussed developments related to North Korea, and the two leaders committed to continuing close communication, the White House said in a statement. Moon’s office also released a similar statement, saying the two leaders had a 30-minute phone conversation at Trump’s request. The North Korean test “is meant to improve military capabilities and to shore up domestic pride and legitimacy”, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “With the activity at Sohae, Pyongyang is also trying to raise international concerns that it may intensify provocations and walk away from denuclearisation talks next year.” The Sohae launching centre in Tongchang-ri, a seaside region in western North Korea, is where the North has carried out banned satellite launches in recent years, resulting in worldwide condemnation and UN sanctions over claims that they were disguised tests of long-range missile technology. North Korea has said its satellite launches are part of its peaceful space development program. But many outside experts say ballistic missiles and rockets used in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology. None of North Korea’s three intercontinental ballistic missile tests in 2017 was conducted at the Sohae site, but observers said the site was used to test engines for ICBMs. After his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June last year, Trump said Kim told him that North Korea was “already destroying a major missile engine testing site” in addition to committing to “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula. South Korea looks to China for support as North Korea’s Kim ratchets up threat Satellite imagery later showed the North dismantling a rocket engine-testing stand and other facilities at the Sohae site. Last March, South Korea’s spy agency and some US experts said that North Korea was restoring the facilities, raising doubts about whether it was committed to denuclearisation. US-North Korea diplomacy has largely remained deadlocked since the second summit between Trump and Kim in Vietnam in February due to disputes over how much sanctions relief the North must get in return for dismantling its key nuclear complex – a limited disarmament step. North Korea has since warned that the US must abandon hostile policies and come out with new acceptable proposals by the end of this year or it would take an unspecified new path. In recent months, North Korea has performed a slew of short-range missile and other weapons launches and hinted at lifting its moratorium on nuclear and long-range missiles. North Korea said the results of Saturday’s test were submitted to the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party. The North said last week that the Central Committee will hold a meeting in late December to discuss unspecified “crucial issues” in line with “the changed situation at home and abroad.” At the United Nations, a statement released by North Korea’s UN ambassador, Kim Song, said Saturday that denuclearisation had “already gone out of the negotiation table.” The statement accused the Trump administration of persistently pursuing a “hostile policy” toward the country “in its attempt to stifle it.” The statement was a response to Wednesday’s condemnation by six European countries of North Korea’s 13 ballistic missile launches since May. The North Korean diplomat accused the Europeans – France, Germany, Britain, Belgium, Poland and Estonia – of playing “the role of pet dog of the United States in recent months.” “We regard their behaviour as nothing more than a despicable act of intentionally flattering the United States,” the ambassador said. Additional reporting by Park Chan-kyong

North Korea conducts ‘very important test’ at launch site in message to Trump

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Test occurred at a rocket testing ground that US officials once said North Korea had promised to close Tensions have risen ahead of a year-end deadline set by North Korea

Test occurred at a rocket testing ground that US officials once said North Korea had promised to close

Tensions have risen ahead of a year-end deadline set by North Korea