Covid-wracked North Korea may greet Joe Biden with a missile test

Reuters

Washington/Seoul, May 18

Despite battling a wave of suspected covid-19 infections, North Korea appears to be preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ahead of US President Joe Biden's first official trip to South Korea, a US official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the latest intelligence showed North Korea could carry out an ICBM test as soon as Thursday or Friday.

Biden is expected to arrive in South Korea on Friday and hold talks with his South Korean counterparts over several days before visiting Japan. The White House said last week Biden was considering a trip to the Demilitarised Zone on the border with North Korea.

A weapons test could overshadow Biden's broader focus on China, trade, and other regional issues, and underscore the lack of progress in denuclearisation talks despite his administration's vow to break the stalemate with practical approaches.

It could also complicate international efforts to offer Pyongyang aid as it battles its first confirmed covid outbreak.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has vowed to take a harder line against North Korean "provocations", and is expected to seek greater assurances from Biden that the United States will strengthen its "extended deterrence" against the North.

When asked about the US assessment on a missile launch, a spokesperson for Seoul's ministry of defence said South Korean and US intelligence authorities are monitoring such activities and closely coordinating and its military is maintaining a firm readiness posture.

US officials have warned that the North could also test a nuclear weapon around the visit, and the State Department said on Tuesday there is no expectation that the covid outbreak would delay a resumption of nuclear testing, paused since 2017.

"Even as (North Korea) continues to refuse the donation of...apparently much-needed covid vaccines, they continue to invest untold sums in ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes that do nothing to alleviate the humanitarian plight of the North Korean people," State Department spokesman Ned Price told a briefing.

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