The United States considers that there is a “real possibility” that North Korea Proceeds to New Missile Fire or Nuclear Test During President Joe Biden’s Asia Toursaid this Wednesday one of his advisers.
(Read here: North Korea: this is how covid-19 would have entered the country)
On the eve of Biden’s departure for a diplomatic tour of the region, “we are prepared for all eventualities, including such a provocation while we are in South Korea or Japan,” said Jake Sullivan, White House counsel for National security.
(You may be interested in: 3 keys to understanding the explosion of covid-19 cases in North Korea)
Kim Jong Un may be preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile or conduct a nuclear test to coincide with President Joe Biden’s trip to the region, while North Korean leader battles a covid-19 outbreak that poses one of the biggest crises facing his regime.
Biden will embark on a trip to South Korea and Japan on Friday to coordinate with US allies on security threats, including that posed by North Korea, while seeking their participation in a new economic grouping to strengthen US allies. supply chains and reduce dependency on China.
(See also: The United States believes that North Korea will carry out a nuclear test this month)
South Korea’s national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters on Wednesday that an intercontinental ballistic missile test could be imminent, without giving a more detailed timeline.
The Asian country fired one about two months ago for the first time in more than four years, highlighting the feat in a cleverly produced video shown on state television.
The preparations can be observed by spy satellites, that they have been trained in an area near Pyongyang’s main international airport after the two ICBM tests in March; only one was successful.
Japan’s top government spokesman, Hirokazu Matsuno, told a briefing in Tokyo that North Korea’s ballistic missiles threaten peace and stability, without directly addressing a CNN report that a launch could be imminent.
Kim chaired a Politburo meeting on policies to stop an outbreak of covid-19 that his government says has infected around 1.7 million people and killed 62 in recent weeks, the Central Intelligence Agency reported on Wednesday. Korean News.
Top leaders also rebuked officials who did not “properly handle matters in the current health crisis due to lack of experience,” he said.
North Korea, in crisis by covid
The coronavirus crisis is providing one of the biggest tests of Kim’s leadership since he took power a decade ago.
His propaganda apparatus has sought to shift blame for the outbreak to lower-ranking officials, while his country has flexed its military might to remind its people of its strength in the face of an outbreak that could overwhelm its antiquated medical system.
North Korea has ignored offers of Covid-19 aid from South Korea and others, and the country isolatedalong with Eritrea in East Africa, is one of only two in the world that has not started a vaccination program against the virus, according to the United Nations.
Pyongyang appears to have sent planes to China, its biggest benefactor, in recent days to pick up medical supplies, NK News and Yonhap News Agency reported.
The country’s population is already vulnerable. The UN food aid agency estimates that around 40 percent of its population is malnourished, which could magnify the impact of the virus.
The Kim regime has not called the hundreds of thousands of infections “Covid,” likely because the country does not have enough test kits to confirm that the cases were caused by the coronavirus.
AFP and BLOOMBERG
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