North Korea: new ballistic missile firing, Washington expects a nuclear test

Television broadcasting a program on a missile launch, in a train station in Seoul, on May 7.

© AP - Ahn Young-joon

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

North Korea again carried out a ballistic missile test this Saturday, May 7, according to the South Korean army.

This is the 15th show of force of the regime since the beginning of the year when its leader Kim Jong-un had assured at the end of April that he wanted to diversify and improve his nuclear arsenal.

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With our correspondent in Seoul,

Nicolas Rocca

The essay comes as relations between South Korea and its North Korean neighbor are set to change with the conservatives taking power next week.

Three days before the inauguration of

Yoon Suk-yeol

as President of South Korea, Kim Jong-un is stepping up the trials.

The new South Korean head of state had warned that he wanted to toughen his tone in the face of provocations from Pyongyang, the opportunity was given to him even before he took office.

While the North Korean press remained silent on the missile test on Wednesday, the South Korean military believes that this time it would be a sea-to-ground ballistic missile that would have been launched.

Joe Biden soon to visit Seoul

For its part, the US State Department assured this Friday, May 7 that the North Korean regime could carry out its seventh nuclear test by the end of the month, the first in five years.

An output that corresponds to satellite imagery analyzes and recent statements by North Korean leaders.

The period of dialogue opened under Donald Trump now seems very distant when Pyongyang already broke its moratorium on the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles in March.

The Biden administration has multiplied the offers of unconditional dialogues, but without a concrete proposal, North Korea does not seem to want to sit down at the negotiating table.

The American president will therefore travel to Seoul on May 20 in a very tense context on the Korean peninsula.

►Also read: North Korea would have fired a new ballistic missile

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  • North Korea

  • South Korea

  • Yoon Suk-yeol

  • Kim Jong Un