North Korea- US relations: ‘Tactical’ Weapon Testing and Prisoners
The state media of North Korea has reported that the country’s leader has recently witnessed the testing of a newly-developed high-tech weapon. The country also released a US prisoner. North Korea- US relations are currently situated in a very sensitive plane. At such a time, North Korea is sending conflicting signals to the USA.
Kim Jong Un has visited the test site of the high-tech weapon. This ‘tactical weapon’ is rumoured to have the capability to protect North Korea like a ‘steel wall’. This visit threatened to sour the diplomatic atmosphere at a time when negotiations between North Korea and the United States of America appear to have stalled.
However, the aftermath was not very severe. The US State Department played down the development. They suggested that the country would not derail efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme that holds the potential to threaten the United States.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said, “We remain confident that the promises made President Trump and Chairman Kim will be fulfilled.”
At an unprecedented summit in June, US President Donald Trump and Kim in Singapore agreed to work towards denuclearisation. Peace seemed to be a viable prospect on the Korean peninsula. But the agreement was not really specific. Moreover, the negotiations after that did not lead to much success in the peace establishment department as North Korea- US relations still remain unstable.
North Korea’s KCNA news agency did not identify the weapon. But they did say that the test was a success. The only picture available showed Kim Jong with a unit of soldiers but no weapon was visible in the photograph. The description of the weapon as ‘tactical’ rules out the probability of it being large ballistic missiles or nuclear bombs.
North Korea- US relations are straining again. What do you think will the future provide? Peace or attrition?
