The Washington Post warned that diplomacy is still out of reach in international dealings with North Korea, which is clinging to its position on its nuclear ambitions.
And she stated in a report by her correspondent in Seoul Min Ju Kim and the director of her office in Tokyo, Michelle Ye Hee Lee, that North Korea has launched more than 100 missiles since the beginning of 2022, and every time the promoters of the ruling regime in Pyongyang claim that they have made great progress in the nuclear weapons program.
According to the report, the series of tests it is conducting show that these allegations are not just empty words, but rather reflect real progress in its nuclear program, and reveal that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is working to make his arsenal of missiles easier to launch and difficult to track, and be able to carry nuclear warheads one day. what.
She stated that last September, North Korea modernized its nuclear doctrine, declaring that “there will never be denuclearization, no negotiations, no bargaining chip for trade” even if international sanctions imposed on it are lifted.
According to the newspaper, Pyongyang’s speech and the progress it has made in the field of nuclear weapons fueled the desire of the South Koreans to obtain a nuclear deterrent. During South Korean President Yun Sok Yul’s visit to the United States, his US counterpart, Joe Biden, pledged that any North Korean nuclear attack on its neighbor would “be met with a swift, overwhelming and decisive response” to the full range of US capabilities, including nuclear ones.
She noted that Pyongyang managed to launch a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile called “Hwasong-18” this month. Shin Seong-ki, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis, said that solid fuels are more cost-effective, in terms of management, storage and deployment.
In the event of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula, the top priority for South Korea and the United States is to find and destroy as many North Korean nuclear launchers as possible, but North Korea is now making that task more difficult.
