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Moon, Trump talk over phone Saturday
By Do Je-hae
Tension is rising on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea reportedly conducted a "very important test" at a missile site.
A statement by North Korea's Academy of National Defense Science issued Sunday said the test took place at the Sohae satellite launching grounds on Saturday afternoon.
Although North Korean state media did not specify exactly what was tested, the report has fueled concerns of military tension ahead of North Korea's proposed "year-end" deadline for resuming nuclear negotiations. The U.S. has been keeping tight surveillance on North Korea lately, deploying the RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft which tracks missile launches.
"The Academy of the National Defense Science of the DPRK made a report on the successful result of the test of great significance to the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea," said a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), referring to North Korea by its official name, DPRK. "The results of the recent important test will have an important effect on changing the strategic position of the DPRK once again in the near future."
The statement came after earlier international media reports of renewed activity at the long-range rocket launch site which had been dismantled after the Singapore summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump has recently brought back the usage of the term "Rocket Man" to describe the North Korean leader. Analysts have suggested Pyongyang could resume testing of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
The two sides have recently been trading threats to get their stalled talks moving again. The two countries last met in in Sweden in October, but failed to produce any agreement for picking up future negotiations. Recently, Pyongyang threatened that it was up to the U.S. what kind of a "Christmas gift" the U.S. would receive.
Prospects for U.S.-North Korea denuclearization are fading as a top North Korean diplomat claimed the subject will no longer be discussed between the two countries.
"We do not need to have lengthy talks with the U.S. now and denuclearization is already off the negotiating table," Kim Song, ambassador of North Korea's UN mission, said in a statement released by its ministry of foreign affairs, Sunday. The remarks were in response to a joint statement following a United Nations Security Council meeting on Dec. 4 in condemnation of North Korea's test firings. "The alleged sustained and substantial dialogue claimed by the United States is merely a time-saving trick to make an expedient use of the DPRK-U.S. dialogue only for its domestic political agenda."
With the U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks at the verge of collapse, South Korea and the U.S. have been closely monitoring the situation, according to Cheong Wa Dae, Saturday.
The KCNA report came after a phone call between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump. The presidential office said the two leaders spoke on the phone for 30 minutes at the request of the U.S. leader.
President Moon has hoped for a third U.S.-North Korea summit before the year closes to expedite his "peace process" on the Korean Peninsula. This has been particularly important for him as the South Korean leader marked the second half of his presidency last month with not much to show for, except for some achievements in inter-Korean relations.
