North Korea threatened a possible resumption of its long-range nuclear and ballistic missile tests during a political bureau meeting on Wednesday (January 19th) under the leadership of Kim Jong-un.

"The hostile policy and military threat of the United States has reached a danger line that can no longer be ignored" and the meeting of the political bureau of the central committee of the Workers' Party "ordered (...) to quickly consider the question of a resumption" of all temporarily suspended activities, North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported on Thursday, obviously referring to nuclear and long-range missile programs.

Kim Jong-un announced a moratorium on nuclear and long-range ballistic missile testing in 2018, saying his goals were achieved, but threatened to lift the moratorium after talks with Donald Trump broke down.

During the meeting, a report was presented analyzing the conditions on the Korean peninsula and discussing "the direction of defensive measures against the United States for the future".

According to KCNA, "the United States has slandered our state and committed the senseless act of taking more than twenty sanctions measures and North Korea must "prepare for a long-term confrontation with the American imperialists".

Several launches

North Korea has already made several launches this year, including two tactical guided missiles, as it seeks to bolster its conventional weaponry while fending off offers for talks from the United States.

This possible resumption of nuclear testing comes at a delicate time for the region, when a presidential election is scheduled for March in South Korea, while China, North Korea's only major ally, prepares to host the Olympics. winter next month.

North Korea is going through a severe economic crisis, aggravated by the sanctions and the closure of the borders that it imposed on itself at the beginning of 2020 in the name of the fight against Covid-19.

The United States has called for a new meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea after the country fired several missiles over the past week.

This meeting, behind closed doors, should be held on Thursday, a diplomatic source told AFP on condition of anonymity, indicating that the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Albania and Mexico had expressed their support with this American initiative.

With AFP

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