Missile after
missile rolls through Pyongyang's
main square Wednesday night,
its biggest intercontinental
ballistic missile,
the facing 17
presumed capable of reaching
mainland United States.
No speech from leader
Kim Jong un this time,
but this many ICBMs are
a message in themselves.
They've now gone
into a good production line
of this very capable, threatenin
missile system
and what some experts say
may be a mockup of a new solid f
which would make it quicker
to launch and easier to move.
If this is the case, it gives th
mobility, flexibility,
lethality and so forth.
Kim Jong un told the world
he wanted a bigger
and better nuclear arsenal.
And judging from these images
provided by state run media,
that seems to be exactly what he
Another
first, the military
parade was a family affair.
Kim's wife
and daughter
were watching the missiles
roll by, believed to be called J
Maybe nine or ten years old.
This is the fifth public event
for Kim's daughter since Novembe
The only one of his children
to be shown in public,
fueling speculation
he may be grooming her for succe
in order to seize power in North
Gaining control of the military
and their loyalty
is the most important thing.
So I think that's why Kim Joo
A is mainly accompanying Kim
to military related occasions.
Kim Jong un's message has been
we will strengthen the military
and we will be ready for war.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
North Korea threatened the Unite
last week, saying
America's military drills
with its South Korean counterpar
will, quote,
ignite an all out showdown unquo
That was likely a reaction
to a joint statement
by the two militaries
pledging to expand and bolster
the level
and scale of their joint exercis
All of this comes
after a year
in which North Korea
launched over 90 missiles.
I can't think of a better person
to help us understand all this.
And Sumi, Teri,
she is a former
CIA analyst on Korea,
a former director
of the National Security Council
and the current director
of the Wilson Center's Asia Prog
She had a great article
recently out in Foreign Affairs
titled The New North Korean Thre
Welcome, Sumitra.
I want to start by something
that really caught my eye, which
polls in South Korea
now show that somewhere between
and 77% of South Koreans
believe the country should have
nuclear weapons of its own.
That strikes
me as a
massive shift from, say, a decad
What do you
what is going on
that is prompting this reevaluat
in South Korea?
Well, there's a recognition
that North Korea has a runaway
nuclear program
since the failure of the Hanoi
summit in 2019,
since the summitry and diplomacy
have really collapsed.
North Korea
has been working on their nuclea
and missile program.
They have been qualitatively
and quantitatively
modernizing and expanding the pr
It seems like
the whole world
is focused
on other events, understandably,
like Russia's
invasion of Ukraine,
while North Korea
has this runaway program.
So there is very high level of a
among the South Korean public.
And what is it about the North
Korean tests
in this last year that have used
so it's not only just
a quantitative,
you know, as you mentioned, over 90 missil
they have been
also testing a variety
of different capabilities
And then there was, of course,
intercontinental ballistic
missile tests in November
that use solid fuel engine,
which makes them more difficult
to preemptively take it out.
So they
are focusing on technical capabi
That's very concerning.
The ICBM also had multiple reent
vehicle capability,
and that's another focus of Nort
North Korea has been preemptivel
making threats about preemptive
insulting honestly,
also lowering the threshold for
weapons use.
They came up with a new nuclear
in September of last year
that really lowered the threshol
for use of nuclear weapons.
So all of these factors combined
and I'm very worried about
about the fact
that we are really entering
a more dangerous phase
with with North Korea.
Now, in the past,
people have often thought that
when when North Korea does
its nuclear saber rattling,
it's trying to get attention
and it's trying to blackmail
the world to get the money.
Sanctions relief, food aid.
Do you think
any of that is at play here?
That's always have been a patter
North Korea.
But I believe this time
the North Koreans are genuinely
not interested
in returning to talks with Washi
So North
Korea is under huge
international sanctions.
How is it able to find the funds
to pay
for all this modernization
of its nuclear arsenal?
On paper,
it looks like there's a lot of s
but sanctions have to be impleme
And China
and Russia are not playing ball.
They have not been implementing
for some time.
Right now, North Korea has,
as they have always done,
rely on illicit activities to fu
So current focus, for example, o
attacks, cryptocurrency, cyber h
That's one
way the North Koreans also make
or get money to fund their progr
And when you look at
the international environment,
does it seem like it is one
that is
conducive to more South North Ko
aggression or adventurism?
Because in the past,
while China has supported North
as its only military ally,
it is usually restrained.
It has usually acted as a kind o
you know, kind of brake on some
What is going on in that relatio
So I think, as
you mentioned,
I think this is a very important
External environment
is favorable for North Korea
to continue their testing
and continue to develop their pr
because since the invasion
and Russia's invasion of Ukraine
geopolitical environment has cha
China and Russia are
absolutely not interested
in helping the international com
in terms of sort of curbing
North Korean's behavior.
If you saw last year,
even after ICBM test
intercontinental ballistic missi
United Nations Security Council
could even come up with a resolu
or any kind of condemnation
of the launch.
So we cannot expect
China, North
Korea, China, Russia
to do anything on the North Kore
And Kim Jong Il knows this.
So if I'm advising Kim Jong un m
I would say,
why not just continue
to perfect
the nuclear and missile capabili
China and Russia
are not going to do anything abo
United States
is preoccupied
with a whole lot of other issues
including including the Ukraine
So this is a perfect time for Ki
Jong un to
just focus
on getting their program
in North Korea's nuclear missile
to another level
before he comes back to the talk
Worrying scenario, symmetry.
Always a pleasure to have you on
Thank you for having me on.