Kim Says North Korea
Close to Testing
Inter-Continental
Missile
by- Kim Jong Un touts military achievements in New Year speech
- North Korea conducted two nuclear tests last year alone
People watch a television news broadcast at a railway station in Seoul on January 1, 2017 showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's New Year's speech.
Photographer: Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images
Kim Jong Un said North Korea is in the “last stage” of preparations to test-
fire an inter-continental ballistic missile, adding to claims his isolated
has the technology to threaten the U.S. as Donald Trump prepares to take
office.
Kim hinted at progress in developing the missile while outlining his regime’s
military achievements over the last year, according to a transcript of his New
Year address released Sunday by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Still, Pyongyang isn’t showing any particular signs of an imminent launch,
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Monday in a briefing posted on the
government website.
North Korea “will continue to strengthen its
based on nuclear might to mount a preemptive
attack,” Kim said during a half-hour speech that
touched on issues including economic policy and
ties with South Korea. Pyongyang has conducted
ned U.S. demands to freeze its arms development in order for international
disarmament talks to resume.
President-elect Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, likened Kim to a “maniac”
his campaign while suggesting he could meet him for nuclear talks. While
Kim made no mention of Trump in his speech, his comments may spur
speculation that North Korea will test a long-range missile around the
inauguration date, seeking to raise the stakes ahead of any talks with the
Trump administration.
Leverage Bid
“North Korea is showing its leverage ahead of future negotiations,” said Kim
Tae-woo, who teaches military issues at South Korea’s Konyang University.
“North Korea’s hope to be recognized as a nuclear power through some sort
of big deal with the U.S. hasn’t lessened, and we may even be seeing Kim
deploying ICBMs this year.”
The regime said previously it had the ability to mount nuclear warheads on
missiles that could reach the U.S., an assertion that was bolstered by its
launch of a long-range rocket in February and another in August. South
Korean officials have said North Korea may have made “significant”
progress in developing missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.
Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea analyst at the Sejong Institute near
Seoul, said the regime may test a missile before Kim’s Jan. 8 birthday or
Trump’s inauguration. And in an assessment of Kim’s speech, South
Korea’s Unification Ministry said North Korea could conduct a test
depending on “upcoming political circumstances.”
In his remarks, Kim said he would “gladly join hands” with anyone who
seeks better relations between the two Koreas. South Korea may hold a
presidential election earlier than the current schedule of December after
Park Geun-hye was impeached last month over an influence-peddling
scandal.
Park has called for sanctions to pressure North Korea to end its nuclear
ambitions. She is suspended from power while the Constitutional Court
considers whether the parliamentary motion to impeach her was
constitutional. If it agrees, a special election will follow in 60 days.
Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and South Korean
opposition heavyweight Moon Jae-in are neck-and-neck in presidential
polls. Both served as senior officials under former president Roh Moo-hyun,
who advocated greater exchanges with North Korea. Ban has yet to
formally declare any plans to run while Moon said he’d welcome a chance to
compete for the presidency.
North Korea is banned under UN Security Council resolutions from
developing ballistic missiles and testing nuclear devices. The council in
late November unanimously passed sanctions that include cutting North
Korea’s coal exports, one of the few sources of hard currency for Kim’s
regime, after the country conducted its fifth test in September.
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