ED No more provocations

North Korea faces further sanctions, isolation

North Korea's test-firing of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) Sunday cannot and should not be condoned, as it posed a serious security threat to South Korea and the U.S. as well as neighboring countries in East Asia. The launch was the seventh of its kind last month alone, raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula and dimming the prospects for peace.

The latest provocation came after Pyongyang launched different types of ballistic missiles, including what it claimed were hypersonic and cruise missiles. More worrisome is that the North might lift its self-imposed moratorium on its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests which the country has maintained since November 2017.

That is why President Moon Jae-in presided over a plenary session of the National Security Council and called the IRBM launch a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from developing weapons of mass destruction. He said the North was seen as inching closer to scrapping its moratorium. However he still fell short of calling it a “provocation.” This has raised the question as to whether he has responded properly and decisively to the North's unusual move to test the largest number of missiles since 2014.

Regrettably, Moon has given the impression that he is still clinging to an appeasement policy toward Pyongyang despite its repeated saber-rattling since its denuclearization talks with the U.S. broke down in Hanoi in February 2019. Moon should have shown a stronger reaction to the North which is more interested in a military buildup than in returning to dialogue.

Against this backdrop, the U.S. seems to be more active in dealing with the North's continued provocations. The Joe Biden administration imposed its own sanctions on eight North Korean individuals and entities supporting the Kim Jong-un regime's development of sophisticated ballistic missiles. However, the North hinted at abrogating its moratorium on nuclear and ICBM tests on Jan. 20. No one can rule out the possibility of Pyongyang trying to complete its nuclear weapons program by conducting such tests.

The Biden government has reaffirmed its commitment to dialogue and diplomacy to solve the North Korean nuclear issue. But Ned Price, spokesperson for the State Department, said the U.S. is moving forward with “different steps” to hold North Korea responsible for its ballistic missile launches, though he gave no details on what those steps are. Yet they could be more sanctions and pressure on the North if Pyongyang keeps test-firing its weapons of mass destruction.

We cannot help but express grave concerns over the North's recent missile launches ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the South's March 9 presidential election. The Kim regime should not turn the clock back to create a similar situation to the “fire and fury” confrontation with the Trump administration in 2017. Nor should it try to influence the presidential poll here.

It is wrong for the North to think that it can boost its negotiating power with the U.S. and solidify its internal unity amid deepening economic woes through its show of force. It should stop its provocations, and instead return to dialogue and move toward denuclearization. Otherwise it will face more sanctions and deeper isolation.