Published 11:04 IST, December 8th 2019
North Korea conducts nuclear test amid stalled nuclear talks with US
North Korea recently conducted a very significant test at its Sohae satellite launch facility amid the ongoing nuclear negotiations between the North and the US
North Korea recently conducted a very significant test at its Sohae satellite launch facility amid the ongoing nuclear negotiations between the North and the United States. A representative of North Korea's National Academy of Science said that the test was conducted on December 7. The representative further added that the test will play a significant role in changing the "strategic status" of North Korea.
Sluggish progress between North Korea and the US
According to reports, Kim Jong Un had agreed to shut down the Sohae launch site during a summit with South Korea's Moon Jae-in to strengthen the trust factor between both countries. The North Korean President has already held three failed talks with American President Doland Trump since 2018 but the very little breakthrough has been made in an attempt towards the process of denuclearisation.
The test at the Sohae facility comes as Pyongyang is putting more pressure on the US to table a fresh offer to restart the stalled talks on denuclearisation between both the countries. Pyongyang also said that it will use measures of any level if America decides to use military force against them.
Donald Trump boasted about his country's military power at a recent NATO summit and added that he hoped to not use any kind of force but said that he will undertake necessary measures whenever required.
North Korea refuses fresh talks with the US
In events that preceded this, North Korea stated that it had declined an offer by the United States of America for a fresh round of dialogues in the month of December, adding that they had no intention of being a part of talks that aimed at pacifying them ahead of the 2019 deadline that they had set for the US to be less rigid in terms of negotiations.
In a statement released, a North Korean representative, Kim Myong Gil, stated that his American counterpart, Stephen Biegun, who had jointly led the failed denuclearisation talks between both the countries in Stockholm, had offered to hold fresh talks through a third country.
Gil added that Biegun's plan was to appease them in order to ease out and pass the yead end deadline set for the US and said that the North will not be in favour of having such talks or negotiations. Pyongyang has been wanting to lift the US imposed sanctions but America said that the North must first denuclearise its nuclear program.
According to reports, a representative of the US state department stated that Trump was committed to moving forward in relation to the agreements he tabled and reached with Kim Jong Un at the first summit that was conducted in Singapore in June 2018, based on building peace and complete denuclearisation.
However, after the failed summit conducted in Hanoi in the month of April, Kim Jong Un set a year-end deadline for the US so that they show more flexibility in the ongoing negotiations that in turn was a matter of concern because it was thought that the North could go back to testing nuclear bomb and long-range missiles that were suspended since 2017.
(With inputs from agencies)
Updated 11:46 IST, December 8th 2019