John Hyton, deputy chief of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended a video seminar hosted by the US Think Tank Institute for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) on the 23rd. CSIS seminar screen capture
The United States and North Korea, which have halted denuclearization negotiations, are using each other as an excuse to pursue their own interests. The US pointed to the North Korean nuclear threat as a cause of missile expansion, and North Korea pointed to the US sanctions against North Korea as an obstacle to fulfilling its obligation to protect the ozone layer.
John Hyton, deputy chief of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a video seminar hosted by the Think Tank Institute for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) on the 23rd (local time), “Our national missile defense capabilities are currently focused on North Korea, not China, Russia, and Iran. There is” he said. “I am confident that there was a possibility that North Korea actually launched a ballistic missile equipped with a nuclear warhead aimed at the US mainland in 2017.”
Deputy General Manager Hyton explained that both the additional deployment of interceptor missiles and the development of next-generation interceptor missiles that the US is currently pursuing are both due to North Korea’s improved ability to carry nuclear warheads. “North Korea is continuing to advance their capabilities, and that means we must continue to move forward in terms of defensiveness,” he said. “If the next-generation interceptor missiles replace the current interceptor missiles at the right time, the deterrence against North Korea will be effectively accomplished.” .
Of course, it is true that the United States values North Korea’s nuclear attack capability more highly than in the past. Experts analyze that one of the reasons Donald Trump’s US administration launched a blitz on nuclear negotiations with North Korea in 2018 was a sense of crisis that the US mainland is no longer safe. In fact, the US Department of Defense released a report last month stating that North Korea believes that it has developed four types of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) capable of directly hitting the US mainland.
However, except for uncertainty, it is difficult to compare North Korea with China and Russia in terms of scale and capacity. Experts say that North Korea can be used strategically in the situation of arms race against China and Russia. The fact that defensive missiles can be converted to offensive use at any time is why China is fiercely opposed to the US’s East Asian Missile Defense Network (MD) construction. Deputy General Manager Hyton’s introduction on the day that JROC is currently reviewing an integrated air defense missile defense strategy that reflects both attack and defense can be interpreted from this perspective.
The US-led economic sanctions against North Korea following the development of nuclear weapons are an excuse to avoid accusations to North Korea. According to a report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on the 24th, at a video conference between the parties to the’Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer’ and the’Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances’ held on November 23-27 last year, They continued to try to fully fulfill their obligations, but they complained that they were having difficulty reaching the goal of reducing the ozone-depleting substance hydrogen chloride and fluorocarbon (HCFC) as sanctions stopped delivery of necessary equipment. Since 2019, North Korea has exceeded the limits for HCFC consumption and production specified by the Protocol.
North America met with leaders in Singapore and Vietnam in June 2018 and February 2019, respectively, to explore the possibility of exchanging denuclearization and security guarantees, but negotiations have been stalemate with no progress since.
Kwon Kyung-seong reporter [email protected]
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