North Korea claimed on Friday that it had launched an anti-aircraft missile in a test launch, the country's fourth in as many weeks after breaking a six-month suspension.
North Korea remains unresponsive from South Korea's call to end cold war.
North Korea Remains Unresponsive from South Korea's Call To Begin Restoration
In a recently published article in Newsweek, South Korea offers to begin its restoration for peace and end its cold war with North Korea. However, DPRK remained unresponsive to the call and instead launched another missile recently that caught the international community's attention.
North Korea's lack of reaction contrasts with Kim Jong Un's earlier this week signals indicating that he was ready to reopen contact channels with South Korea. It can be remembered that Kim Jon Un said last week that he is willing to open their communication with the South Korean government again.
Simultaneously, he rejected US proposals to start a conversation, describing them as a "cunning" ploy to hide American animosity against North Korea. Kim also said that if the Koreas' relationship develops, South Korea must abandon its "double-dealing mentality," according to a published article in Daily Advent.
Countries Confirmed that North Korea's Ballistic Missile Launches are Banned
South Korea, Japan, and the United States routinely acknowledge North Korean ballistic missile launches shortly after they occur, despite UN resolutions prohibiting them. However, they did not do so for Thursday's, indicating that the weapon tested was of a different kind. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea and the United States stated Friday that they were monitoring North Korean actions but did not explain.
North Korea began missile testing three weeks ago. The North, as it has done in the past, coupled a show of might with a more conciliatory gesture earlier this week, proposing to restore hotlines used by North and South Korea to schedule talks, coordinate border crossings, and prevent unintentional confrontations, according to a published report in USA Today.
Since early 2019, diplomacy aimed at persuading the North to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for economic and political benefits has mostly stalled. North Korea is now subject to severe US-led financial sanctions, which come when its already fragile economy is experiencing huge setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Views from Analysts
According to Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, the launch seems to be the first step in a test to create a missile that can take down incoming enemy missiles and planes. He claimed the missile looks like the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, which has a maximum range of 400 kilometers (250 miles) and is capable of intercepting stealth aircraft, according to him.
According to the Korean Central News Agency on Friday, the anti-aircraft missile test was "very useful" in terms of researching and developing different potential anti-aircraft missile systems. The North's recent actions seem to put pressure on South Korea, which wants to repair strained relations on the peninsula, to convince the US to ease sanctions.
Related Article: South Korea Pushes To End Korean War To Restore Peace, North Korea Dismisses the Call
