{"id":250754,"date":"2022-03-11T07:59:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T07:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=250754"},"modified":"2022-03-12T15:40:46","modified_gmt":"2022-03-12T15:40:46","slug":"serious-escalation-us-believes-north-korea-testing-intercontinental-missile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=250754","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Serious escalation\u2019: US believes North Korea testing intercontinental missile"},"content":{"rendered":"

Above: Iran recently launched a new military satellite<\/a> into orbit. Iran and North Korea have previously shared much of their research in missile technology.<\/p>\n

Julian Borger and Justin McCurry in Tokyo \u2013 The Guardian March 10, 2022<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The US believes North Korea<\/a> is testing a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in what the Biden administration called a \u201cserious escalation\u201d that would trigger more sanctions.<\/p>\n

Pyongyang conducted two recent missile launches which it said were ultimately intended for putting satellites into space<\/a>. After scrutinising them, however, US intelligence has assessed that the real intention was to test parts of the new ICBM.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on analysis of these launches, the United States government has concluded that these launches involved a new ICBM system that the DPRK is developing,\u201d John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a serious escalation by the DPRK.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US believes the ICBM being tested was first displayed by the Pyongyang regime in the Workers\u2019 party parade<\/a> on 10 October 2020, and then again at a defence exhibition a year later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of these tests, which did not demonstrate ICBM range, was likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n

The US made its assessment in conjunction with Japan and South Korea, a senior US official added, and would share the conclusions with other allies and partners, including the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s defence ministry condemned the tests. \u201cNorth Korea\u2019s recent actions, including these missile launches that make the situation more tense, threaten the peace and security of our country, region and the international community and are totally unacceptable,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Japan is particularly concerned about the North\u2019s recent return to missile testing. Two intermediate-range missiles flew over its territory in the space of a fortnight in 2017, triggering alerts<\/a> warning people to take cover.<\/p>\n

US forces have stepped up their monitoring and intelligence collection in the region, and new sanctions are to be introduced on Friday aimed at further restricting North Korea\u2019s access to advanced technology that it could use in its weapons programmes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be a range of further actions in the coming days,\u201d the US official said.<\/p>\n

The White House says that Joe Biden is open to diplomacy and would be prepared to meet the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, \u201cwhen there is a serious agreement on the table\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration believes any such agreement would need to be preceded by working-level negotiations, as the experience of Donald Trump\u2019s meetings with Kim suggested that \u201csummits alone are no guarantee of progress,\u201d the senior official said, adding: \u201cThe DPRK continues to not respond.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the door remains open to diplomacy, the United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and our allies,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

North Korean state media on Friday reported that Kim had ordered officials to expand a satellite launch facility to fire a variety of rockets that could carry multi-purpose satellites.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe stressed that it is the noble duty of our party and space scientists and technicians \u2026 to turn the launching ground, associated with our state\u2019s great dream and ambition for a space power, into an ultramodern advanced base,\u201d the KCNA news agency quoted Kim as saying during a visit to the site.<\/p>\n

Pyongyang insists its satellite launches are part of its peaceful space programme, but the UN believes they are used to try out new missile technology.<\/p>\n

North Korea conducted three ICBM tests in 2017, and has carried out a total of six nuclear tests, before suspending both types of testing before the summits with Trump.<\/p>\n

In January, Pyongyang said it would reconsider \u201crestarting all temporarily suspended activities\u201d, and analysts have seen signs of construction<\/a> at North Korea\u2019s Punggye-ri nuclear test site for the first time since its closure and dismantlement in the spring of 2018.<\/p>\n

Some experts believe North Korea could launch a spy satellite or a test an ICBM in April to coincide with the 110th anniversary of the birth of the country\u2019s founder, and Kim\u2019s grandfather, Kim Il-sung.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Given that Iran and North Korea have shared much of their missile research, it may only be a matter of time before Iran reveals new long range missile capabilities <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=250754"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250756,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250754\/revisions\/250756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=250754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=250754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=250754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}