North Korea Launches Missile, Despite Kim Jong Un's Promise To Focus On Food Security

Less than a week North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his priorities in 2022 were food security and the economy instead of nuclear weapons as in previous years, Pyongyang launched a missile off the east coast, Wednesday, January 5, 2022.

In fact, in a speech at the end of the 4th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Friday, December 31, 2021, Kim said North Korea would start 2022 with a focus on economic development and improving people's lives.

But this Wednesday morning, a missile was fired just hours before South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a railway line he hopes will eventually connect the divided Korean peninsula.

It appears to be the first launch since this October, underscoring leader Kim Jong Un's New Year's promise to support the military in the face of an unstable international situation amid stalled talks with South Korea and the United States.

The missiles were allegedly fired at around 8:10 a.m. from an inland location on the east coast toward the sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

Hours later, Moon visited South Korea's eastern coastal city of Goseong, near the border with North Korea, where he built a new railway line that he called a "stepping stone for regional peace and balance on the Korean Peninsula."

The missile launch by North Korea highlights the challenges Moon faces in his bid to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough before his five-year term ends in May.Reconnecting the two Koreas by rail was at the heart of a 2018 meeting between Kim and Moon, but those efforts were fruitless as talks aimed at convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for easing international sanctions stalled in 2019.

Kim's New Year's speech made no mention of South Korea's efforts to restart stalled negotiations or an offer by the United States to talk, though analysts noted it did not mean he had closed the door on diplomacy.

South Korea's National Security Council held an emergency meeting, expressing concern the launch was "committed at a time when internal and external stability is critical" and called for North Korea to return to talks.

Japan's defense minister said the suspected ballistic missile had flown about 500 km.

"Since last year, North Korea has repeatedly launched missiles, which is very regrettable," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.

A UN Security Council resolution prohibits all ballistic and nuclear missile tests by North Korea, and has imposed sanctions on the program.

In state media's summary of a speech Kim gave ahead of the New Year, the North Korean leader did not specifically mention missiles or nuclear weapons, but said national defense should be supported.

For several weeks the North Korean army has been conducting winter drills, South Korean military officials said.Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea has become increasingly isolated, imposing border lockdowns that have slowed trade and hindered any direct diplomatic engagement.

It is also stuck in a self-imposed moratorium on testing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or its largest nuclear weapon .

The last test of an ICBM or nuclear bomb was in 2017, before Kim met with US President Donald Trump.

But Pyongyang has continued to test-fire a variety of new short-range ballistic missiles, including one launched from a submarine in October, arguing it should not be penalized for developing weapons that are also used by other countries.

Source: https://www.msn.com/id-id/berita/dunia/korea-utara-laukan-rudal-meski-kim-jong-un-promise-fokus-ketahanan-pangan/ar-AASrhda?ocid= mmx&PC=EMMX01

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