North Korean Missile Tests Heighten Tensions Again

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Giving another jolt to the prospects of a lasting peace in the Korean Peninsula, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles last week. The tests were conducted within a month since the North Korean leader Chairman Kim Jong-un and the US President Donald Trump met in the demilitarised zone (DMZ), between the two Koreas. In their meeting the two leaders had pledged to work towards a compressive solution to the outstanding issues.


Two missile were launched from Wonsan in the east coast of North Korea. Both North Korean and the South Korean agencies have confirmed that the missiles were of a different tactical nature, indicating that they are more mobile, easy to carry and hide, and importantly more difficult to track. Clearly, the security implications are directly on the Korean Peninsula rather than the US.

In a statement issued after the missile launch, Kim Jong-un stated that the missile launch was aimed at quelling any direct and potential security threat to the North Korea’s security. He also held South Korea responsible for the action calling it provocative. South Korea will be conducting its annual joint military exercise with the US next month. Both South Korea and the US are firm on conducting their joint military exercise which has been going on for several years. Interestingly, Kim Jong-un made no mention of the US or President Trump, thereby indicating that the North Korean regime does not want to escalate the differences with the US, while at the same time, it would not abandon its nuclear missile programme.

While the long-term motivation for building North Korea’s nuclear capabilities is ‘regime survival’, the recent tests has to do with the upcoming US-South Korea annual joint military exercise. In addition, the procurement of 40 F-35A stealth jets by South Korea also seems to have motivated the North Korean missile launch.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has criticised the tests accusing North Korea of violating the United Nations resolutions, which prohibits Pyongyang from developing and testing ballistic missile technologies. While criticising Pyongyang’s action, Seoul stated that it will not have serious impact on the South Korean security.

As far as the US response to the missile test is concerned, it has been mild. A closer look at the statements from the US government reveals that the US response to short-range missile tests has been moderate, and it comes down heavily on the North Korean regime when the long-range missile tests or nuclear tests are done. This indicates that the US links the North Korean actions with its homeland security as well.

The US and South Korean response to the tests conducted in May were also mild. While it seems that the US perceives the missile launch as a negotiating tactic on part of North Korea, such an action- if continued unabated, might undermine the security, peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.

Despite the failed talks between Trump and Kim in Hanoi in February 2019, the two leaders met in June. However, the dialogue has not been able to see any breakthrough. The working-level dialogue between North Korea and the US has also been suspended since the Hanoi summit. Critics argue that Trump’s “style-over-substance” approach on North Korea has failed to yield any tangible results, and North Korea is still actively building its military capabilities. Another important consideration is North Korea’s closeness to China.

Beijing’s absence will not have lasting impact on the peace process. For a viable solution to the problem, the six party talks could be revived. However, at the moment, China-US bilateral differences will deter any concerted efforts in thwarting North Korea from building up its nuclear capabilities. In such a situation, it is important for the US to keep engaging North Korea and dissuade it from conducting further tests.

India wishes for a stable secure and tension free Korean peninsula. All the stake-holders should work towards achieving this.


Script: Dr. Rahul Mishra, Strategic Analyst on East & South-East Asia

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