US still prepared to engage with North Korea after missile test, White House says
- North Korea announced successful tests of a long-range cruise missile which analysts said could be the country’s first such weapon with a nuclear capability
- ‘Our position has not changed when it comes to North Korea, we remain prepared to engage,’ said a White House spokeswoman
“Our position has not changed when it comes to North Korea, we remain prepared to engage,” principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
North Korea’s state media announced on Monday what it said were successful tests of a new long-range cruise missile that analysts said could be the country’s first such weapon with a nuclear capability.
US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said initial indications were that North Korea had carried out such a test.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the missiles were “a strategic weapon of great significance” and flew 1,500km (930 miles) before hitting their targets and falling into the country’s territorial waters during the tests on Saturday and Sunday.
North Korea’s cruise missiles usually generate less interest than ballistic missiles because they are not explicitly banned under UN Security Council resolutions. However, analysts said calling it “strategic” could mean it was a nuclear-capable system.
North Korea test-fires ‘strategic’ long-range cruise missile with possible nuclear capability
It is unclear whether North Korea has mastered the technology needed to build warheads small enough to be carried on a cruise missile, but leader Kim Jong-un said earlier this year that developing smaller bombs is a top goal.
The US military’s Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said the activity highlighted North Korea’s “continuing focus on developing its military programme and the threats that poses to its neighbours and the international community”.
US, Japan, South Korea diplomats discuss North Korea missile launch
Chief nuclear negotiators from the United States, South Korea and Japan met in Tokyo on Tuesday to explore how to resume efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
Biden’s administration has said it is open to diplomacy to achieve this, but has shown no willingness to ease sanctions on North Korea.
Sung Kim, the US envoy for North Korea, said in August that he was ready to meet North Korean officials “anywhere, at any time”.
