Seoul, South Korea – North Korea reacted on Saturday to President Joe Biden’s criticism of ballistic missile tests, calling his comments provocation and usurpation of the North’s right to self-defense and promising to continually expand its “most complete and overwhelming military power”.
The statement issued by senior official Ri Pyong Chol came after the North on Thursday tested two short-range missiles on the east coast in the first ballistic launches since Biden took office.
Experts say the flight data released by South Korea’s military and North Korea’s own test description indicated that the North had tested a new solid-fuel weapon designed to escape from missile defense systems and has nuclear potential.
The launches showed how the North continues to expand its military capabilities while nuclear negotiations with the United States remain paralyzed. They also highlighted the growing threat posed by such short-range weapons to US allies South Korea and Japan, which host a total of 80,000 US soldiers as the core of the United States’ military presence in the region.
Passengers watch a TV showing an archive image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Joe Biden during a news program at Suseo Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday. March 26, 2021. North Korea on Friday confirmed that it had tested a new guided missile, while Biden warned of the consequences if Pyongyang increased tensions amid stalled nuclear talks. (AP Photo / Ahn Young-joon)
Biden was restrained in warning North Korea for the launches, which violated UN sanctions against the North.
“We are consulting our allies and partners,” Biden said at his presidency’s first press conference on Thursday. “And there will be answers if they decide to escalate. We will respond accordingly. But I am also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned on the final result of denuclearization.”
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In comments conveyed by the official Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang, Ri said the North expressed “deep apprehension” about Biden’s comments that “openly revealed his profound hostility to the DPRK.” DPRK refers to the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Ri said it was “gangster logic” for the United States to criticize testing tactical weapons in the North, when Americans are freely testing intercontinental ballistic missiles and can send their strategic military resources to the region around the Korean Peninsula at any time.
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He said the North had no choice but to build “invincible physical strength” to defend itself because the United States and South Korea “constantly pose military threats” and continue their combined military exercises, which the North claims to be a rehearsal of invasion.
“I think the new United States government has obviously taken the first wrong step,” said Ri.
People watch a TV showing an image file of an unspecified North Korean missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in South Korea, Thursday, October 31, 2019. ( AP Photo / Ahn Young-joon)
“If the United States continues with its thoughtless comments, without thinking about the consequences, it may come across something that is not good.”
Ri, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party and vice president of the party’s Central Military Commission, is a former Air Force commander who has been seen as a key figure in the development of the Northern missile program.
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Thursday’s launches followed a statement by the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim last week, who rebuked the last US-South Korea military exercises that ended earlier this month and warned Washington to “refrain from causing a stink” if you want to “sleep in peace” for the next four years.
The North has so far ignored the Biden government’s efforts to reach this point, saying it will not engage in meaningful negotiations as long as Washington persists with “hostile” policies.
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Although Pyongyang has a history of testing new US administrations with weapon demonstrations to force Washington back into negotiations, Ri said the North Koreans “are in no way developing weapons to get someone’s attention or influence their politics”.
It is unclear how the Biden government will respond before completing its policy review for North Korea in the coming weeks.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends an emergency meeting to discuss disaster prevention efforts against Typhoon Lingling in North Korea. (Korea Central News Agency / Korea News Service via AP, Archives)
“For Kim Jong Un’s missile man, Ri Pyong Chol, labeling Biden’s press conference as a provocation is essentially a threat that North Korea will respond to the review of US policy with further testing,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Seoul Ewha Womans University.
“Pyongyang is implementing a premeditated strategy of increasing military capabilities and increasing tensions. Ri Pyong Chol has further testing underway and is trying to maximize the political impact of his investment in missile development.”
The United States reduced its exercises with South Korea and stopped sending nuclear-powered bombers and aircraft carriers since President Donald Trump’s first summit with Kim in 2018, where he issued vague statements about a Korean peninsula without nuclear weapons without describing when and how it would be.
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But negotiations were stalled after the second Kim-Trump meeting in February 2019 failed due to divergences in exchanging U.S. sanctions relief for Northern disarmament measures.
Some experts say the allies should restore the normal scale and scope of their exercises to develop a response to the growing threat from North Korea’s short-range weapons, which it continued to test even while suspending testing of intercontinental and nuclear ballistic missiles.