US to impose new sanctions on North Korea over tests of advanced missile system
- The recent launch of new long-range missiles is ‘a serious escalation’ by Pyongyang, said a senior Biden administration official
- Any major upcoming missile tests, which analysts say could happen soon, would be an immediate test for the incoming South Korean president
US President Joe Biden’s administration said it planned to announce new sanctions on North Korea on Friday after concluding that Pyongyang tested a new, advanced long-range weapon system.
Launches in late February and early March “involved a new intercontinental ballistic missile system”, Jung Pak, the State Department’s deputy special representative for North Korea, said on Thursday. “This is a serious escalation.”
Pak said the tests were likely intended to check elements of this new system before North Korea conducts a more complete launch, “which they will potentially attempt to disguise as a space launch”.
The announcement comes just one day after South Korea’s presidential election, where voters narrowly elected the conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol by less than 1 percentage point.
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Yoon had vowed on the campaign trail to take a harder line against North Korea, which continues to develop nuclear weapons despite crushing economic sanctions from the United Nations and the US, and after five years of diplomatic outreach from Yoon’s predecessor, the liberal Moon Jae-in.
Any major upcoming missile launch or weapons test from Pyongyang – which analysts say could happen soon – would be an immediate challenge for the incoming Yoon government and its ally in Washington, even as the Biden administration remains consumed by the war in Ukraine.
