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North Korea has conducted two tests of a new intercontinental ballistic missile system in the past few weeks, and Pyongyang may prepare to conduct more tests in the guise of a space launch, Pentagon officials said on Thursday.
Defense officials said North Korea conducted tests on February 26 and March 4. These seemed to be the first tests of a new ICBM system that North Korea made its debut during a military parade last October.
“The purpose of these tests, which did not show the ICBM range, was to evaluate this new system before potentially conducting a future test in the guise of a space launch,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. “The United States strongly condemns these launches, which are a flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, unnecessarily escalating tensions and risking destabilizing the security situation in the region.”
“We have been and will continue to cooperate closely with our allies and partners. [North Korea] and furthering our common goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Mr Kirby said that in response to the North Korean tests, US Indo-Pacific Command had “ordered intensified surveillance activity” in the Yellow Sea off the Korean coast earlier this week. US military personnel have also “increased readiness” for US ballistic missiles in the region.
The tests included a missile reportedly larger than the ICBM tested in 2017. This test ignited the “fire and fury” warning from then-President Trump, but he eventually entered a diplomatic path with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
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