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North Korean state media reported on Thursday that its military had test fired a tactical guided weapon. Photo: AP

Was North Korea’s missile test a sign Pyongyang is getting impatient?

  • Analysts say Kim Jong-un wanted to send a message to China and the US that it will not succumb to the pressure of economic sanctions
  • Choice of weapon also suggests Pyongyang was keen not to cause too much upset ahead of important meetings next week in Beijing and Vladivostok
North Korea
North Korea’s firing of a new “tactical guided weapon” on Wednesday was intended as a warning to China and the United States that it is running out of patience with the UN sanctions imposed against it, analysts say.

According to a report published on Thursday by the Korean Central News Agency, the leader of the hermit state, Kim Jong-un, “supervised and guided the test firing of a new type of tactical guided weapon by the Academy of Defence Science”.

“The development of the weapon system serves as an event of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power of the People’s Army,” he was quoted as saying.

The report did not specify what type of weapon was fired.

It is not known what type of missile was fired on Wednesday. This file image shows the test launch of a Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile by North Korea in 2017. Photo: AP

The move comes at a time of stalled negotiations on the issue of North Korea’s denuclearisation, and less than two months after the collapse of the second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi at the end of February.

Zhao Tong, a fellow at the Carnegie Nuclear Policy Programme at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy, said the latest move by Pyongyang was similar to when it tested a tactical weapon system in November as its talks with Washington faltered.

“The message to the US is that the North [Korea] will not succumb to the maximum pressure strategy and may escalate the tensions. It is the North’s way of restarting talks and forcing the US to compromise,” he said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump held an unsuccessful summit in Hanoi at the end of February. Photo: AP

Harry Kazianis, director of Korean studies at the Centre for the National Interest – a public policy think tank in Washington – was similarly concerned about the latest missile test.

“Sadly, we are only one ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] test away from another crisis with Pyongyang, and these smaller tests only bring us closer to such a moment,” he said.

The timing of the test was also significant, with Beijing preparing to host its second Belt and Road Summit and Moscow gearing up for a Russia-North Korea summit.

China is set to welcome the leaders of “about 40” foreign governments – including Russian President Vladimir Putin – and representatives from more than 100 countries to Beijing next week for an event to promote its multibillion-dollar plan to boost trade and infrastructure links across Asia, Africa and Europe.
Also next week, Kim and Putin are expected to hold their first ever summit, in Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East. In a report on Wednesday, Russian newspaper Izvestia cited the foreign ministry as saying “actual plans” had been made for the meeting.

Activity detected at North Korean nuclear site, US monitor says

A South Korean diplomatic source in Seoul told the South China Morning Post that Kim was likely “to travel by train to Russia’s Far East before China’s summit”, and while there was expected to ask Moscow for financial aid.

Zhao said that after expressing their support for the lifting of UN sanctions on North Korea, Beijing and Moscow were unlikely to be too critical of Pyongyang’s latest missile test.

“The North deliberately limited the test to the tactical level, hoping China and Russia would not react too strongly and continue to be sympathetic,” he said.

Boo Seung-chan, adjunct professor at the Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul, also noted Pyongyang’s firing of a tactical rather than strategic missile. The former typically carries a conventional warhead, while the latter is designed for mass destruction.

The test most likely involved “short-range missiles – such as cruise missiles – which are not categorised as a weapon of mass destruction”, he said.

“The operational range of its tactical weapons is – in most cases – constrained to within the Korean peninsula, so the test is less likely to upset the international community.

“Kim may also have wanted to appease his military officials who have complained of being sidelined during the negotiation process,” he said.

Sean King, a former US government official and senior vice-president of political strategy firm Park Strategies, said the North Korean leader was just making sure the world had not forgotten him.

“Kim is just letting us know he’s still there and that he can cause trouble again if he wants,” he said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: north ‘vents sanctions anger’ in missile test
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