North Korea might abandon it’s missile testing freeze agreed as a sign of ‘good will’ in Nuclear talks between US president Donald Trump and North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un during their last summit.
According to US Military officials, North Korea could test long range missiles able to reach the US mainland this December as a promised ‘Christmas’ gift to the US, a move that could push Trump to abandon his diplomatic stance with Kim and consider racheting up tensions ahead of 2020 elections .
North Korea has warned it will resume its long-range tests if the US does not offer some concessions by the end of this year. Military analysts say Pyongyang is frustrated by a perceived lack of flexibility and creativity from US negotiators.
Negotiations between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump failed in February when the two leaders met for the second time. The U.S. rejected North Korea’s proposal for sweeping economic sanctions relief in exchange for partial denuclearization from North Korea.
Gen. Charles Q. Brown, the commander of Pacific Air Forces, told a group of reporters in Washington on Tuesday that it was also possible North Korea could announce that its self-imposed moratorium on long-range testing was over without actually launching anything.
“Go back to May, and you’ve seen a series of short range ballistic missile [tests], and … a long-range ballistic missile [is expected]” before the year’s end’
“What I would expect is some type of long-range ballistic missile to be ‘the gift
“It’s just a matter of, does it come on Christmas Eve? Does it come on Christmas Day? Does it come in after the new year?” Brown said.
He added, “We’re watching. Our job is to backstop the diplomatic efforts [but] if the diplomatic efforts kind of fall apart, we’ve got to be ready.”
