Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/SEOUL: North Korea could test-fire intercontinental ballistics missile (ICBM), its seventh nuclear test this year, to perfect its arms capabilities and put further pressure on the US, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday, citing intelligence officials.
North Korea so far conducted ICBM tests only on lofted trajectories but has already secured capabilities to launch them at the normal angle, enabling them to fly further, the lawmakers said after a briefing by Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), Reuters said.
US stance
The lawmakers said that Pyongyang might undertake an ICBM test on the usual trajectory to pressure the United States. North Korea recently conducted regional army drills and plans more large exercises in the coming months. The briefing came as the US, South Korean and Japanese navies staged joint tactical drills on Wednesday in waters between the Asian neighbours.
Tokyo’s defence ministry said a Japanese escort vessel and US and South Korean destroyers joined the training to step up trilateral ballistic missile responses.
North Korea fired an ICBM and two more short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, with a powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un threatening to use the Pacific as a “firing range” depending on the US behaviour.
“ICBMs not launched at the normal angle so far, but North Korea has the capabilities and seems to be preparing a timeline to boost a pressure effect on the United States,” Yoo Sang-bum, a member of the South Kore parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters after the briefing.
Yoo said that North Korea was likely to carry out its first nuclear test since 2017 and launch a spy satellite that year, but it has yet to master the technology to equip multiple rocket launchers with atomic devices.
He said, “there is the possibility for a seventh test which would be essential to complete the miniaturization and lightening of the weight of nuclear bombs.”
Youn Kun-young, another committee member, said that North Korea might develop solid fuel-based ICBMs this year and confirmed the defense ministry’s report that Chinese spy balloons didn’t enter South Korean airspace.
