Here is the latest on what North Korea’s now very delayed Christmas gift could be:
North Korea may be prepared to test-fire an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to threaten the U.S. mainland, the U.S. northern commander has said, citing rocket engine tests Pyongyang conducted in December.
Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, commander of the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, made the remark in a statement submitted for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s earlier warning of a “new strategic weapon” and a “shocking actual action.”
“While Kim did not specify what this new weapon would be, recent engine testing suggests North Korea may be prepared to flight-test an even more capable ICBM design that could enhance Kim’s ability to threaten our homeland during a crisis or conflict,” O’Shaughnessy said.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Publicly bringing out his aunt after six years may mean that Kim Jong-un is trying to solidify support behind his upcoming policies from those who may still be supportive of his aunt’s husband Jang Song-taek who he executed:
Kim Kyong-hui, the aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a once-influential figure in the country’s leadership, has made her first public appearance in six years, quashing rumors that she had been killed or sent into exile. She had been out of the public eye since her husband Jang Song-thaek was executed in December 2013.
Korea Times
According to North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, Sunday, the North Korean leader had attended a Lunar New Year performance the day before at the Samjiyon Theater in Pyongyang with his family members and high-ranking officials including his wife Ri Sol-ju, aunt Kim Kyong-hui, sister Kim Yo-jong, the country’s de facto second-in-command Choe Ryong-hae and other top officials Ri Il-hwan, Jo Yong-won and Hyon Song-wol.
You can read more at the link.
Here is the most obvious analysis of the day:
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday that North Korea is “clearly” trying to build a nuclear-tipped long-range missile as Washington continues to pursue denuclearization talks with the regime.
Esper made the comment when asked to assess the extent of the threat posed by the “new strategic weapon” North Korea has threatened to unveil amid stalled denuclearization talks with the U.S.
“They have an aggressive R&D program and a test program, to say the least,” the Pentagon chief said during a seminar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “We’re conscious of what they’re trying to do. Clearly, they are trying to build a long-range ballistic missile with the ability to carry a nuclear warhead, if you will, on top of it. So it’s something we are watching very closely.”
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The Kim regime is just upset that the Japanese are likely looking at building up capabilities in space militarily to deal with North Korea and China’s growing ballistic missile threat:
North Korea on Saturday slammed Tokyo’s plan to establish a military space unit, saying the plan is a dangerous and reckless move to make Japan a “military giant.”
“Japan is madly keen on exploiting even the outer space for its sinister purpose of building up ‘defense capacity,'” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang’s official mouthpiece, said in its editorial. “The outer space can never be reduced to a theatre for the state of aggression, the war-thirsty state.”
Japan last year announced that its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) plan to create a military unit specializing in space matters by 2023.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
