WASHINGTON, May 18 — Despite battling a wave of suspected Covid-19 infections, North Korea appears to be preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile ahead of US President Joe Biden’s first official trip to South Korea, a US official said.
A weapons test could overshadow Biden’s broader focus on China, trade, and other regional issues, and underscore the lack of progress in denuclearisation talks despite his administration’s vow to break the stalemate with practical approaches. Yoon has vowed to take a harder line against North Korean “provocations,” and is expected to seek greater assurances from Biden that the United States will strengthen its “extended deterrence” against the North.
“Even as continues to refuse the donation of ... apparently much-needed Covid vaccines, they continue to invest untold sums in ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes that do nothing to alleviate the humanitarian plight of the North Korean people,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told a briefing.
“Refurbishment work and preparations at Tunnel No. 3 has been proceeding over the past three months, and presumably will be nearing completion for the oft-speculated seventh nuclear test,” the CSIS report on the nuclear site said. “The timing of this test rests solely within the hands of Kim Jong-un.”
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