North Korea flaunts new missiles as top Chinese and Russian officials look on
The Hwasong-20, which has not yet had a test launch, is the last in a series of ICBMs developed by North Korea under the Kim administration. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said last month that North Korea was moving closer to building ICBMs that could target the U.S. mainland with nuclear warheads.
Washington has long campaigned for the “complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling” of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. But North Korea insists on being considered a nuclear-armed state. Last month, Kim said his country was willing to restart dialogue with Washington only if it stopped trying to deprive North Korea of its nuclear arsenal.
South Korean analysts have suggested that the North’s newest generation of missiles could reach the continental United States.Credit: access point
Senior Chinese and Russian officials’ monitoring of the nuclear missile parade in Pyongyang reinforced a change in Beijing and Moscow’s policy regarding North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
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In recent months, Russian officials have stated that they will no longer insist on the denuclearization of North Korea and described the issue as a “closed” issue. China also no longer mentions “denuclearization” in its official statements following high-level meetings with North Korea.
“The fact that the same formulaic term disappears from multiple official documents within weeks is a telltale sign. [an] “It’s deliberate policy change, not bureaucratic oversight,” said Seong-Hyon Lee, Senior Fellow on US-China Relations at the George HW Bush Foundation.
Soldiers line up in rows in the square as the North Korean flag is raised at the Pyongyang parade.Credit: access point
The parade in Pyongyang comes less than three weeks before international leaders are expected to meet in Gyeongju, South Korea, for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.
President Donald Trump previously said he planned to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC meeting. But in a Truth Social post on Friday, he criticized Beijing’s export control over rare earth minerals and said he might cancel the meeting.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (center left) greets Chinese Premier Li Qiang (center right), General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam (left) and Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev (center) in Pyongyang.Credit: access point
As the strategic rivalry between China and the United States intensifies and Russia’s war against Ukraine intensifies, Kim has seen his geopolitical value to Beijing and Moscow increase.
Russia revived a Cold War-era alliance agreement with North Korea last year, and Kim provided North Korea with much-needed weapons and troops. And in a testament to the North Korean leader’s growing influence, China invited Kim to Beijing last month to join Xi alongside Putin as they watched a military parade similar to Friday’s.
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The seniority of the Chinese delegation in Pyongyang last week was another sign of Kim’s high position in the anti-Western partnership. Li was the first Chinese premier to visit North Korea since 2009.
For Russia and China, the parade in Pyongyang “repositions North Korea from dependent state to indispensable partner, demonstrating advanced military hardware as a joint asset in a common challenge to Western strategic dominance,” analyst Lee said.
“The message to the United States is that the established strategy for North Korea, where Kim is flanked by senior Chinese and Russian officials and displays formidable weapons, including potential multi-warhead ICBMs, is no longer valid.”
This article was first published on: New York Times.
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