North Korea's missile launch this morning could dash hopes in Washington that the regime
was backing down and might be moving toward talks.
Some say it's a negotiating tactic.
Also, possibly a response to defense drills by South Korea and the U.S.
Our Connie Kim takes a closer look at the North's intentions.
It was just a week ago that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson praised North Korea
for showing restraint in its provocative behavior and expressed hope that this could be the
moment Washington was waiting for to start setting the stage for peace talks with Pyongyang.
In that sense, the Trump administration has clearly dropped key preconditions set by its
predecessor, such as having Pyongyang commit to denuclearization before any talks can take
place, and instead, has offered to sit at the negotiation table by merely having the
regime halt its missile launches.
But, despite warnings and proposals for talks, North Korea went ahead and launched three
short-range ballistic missiles over the weekend, followed by Tuesday's launch of an intermediate-range
ballistic missile.
(Korean/ ) "North Korea seems to be assessing that it's
not a bad decision to instigate tension on the Korean peninsula in order to raise its
leverage with Washington for talks while at the same time completing its missile program."
At the same time, Pyongyang's ongoing missile launches are also seen as the regime's unwillingness
to sit down with Seoul for talks.
(English/ ) "It can negotiate with any other country in
the world from the position of strength so why bother taking side steps by considering
proposal by the Moon government dealing with issues that are not really essential for North
Korea's pursuit of security assurance and major economic prosperity?"
For now, talks either with Seoul or Washington don't seem to be taking place any time soon.
What remains to be seen, however, is how the U.S. will pressure China in reining in Pyongyang's
nuclear ambitions and how Seoul will exert diplomatic influence in peacefully stopping
the North's missile provocations and nuclear weapons ambition.
Connie Kim, Arirang News.
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