hankyoreh

By Park Byong-su, staff reporter

Kim Jong-un announced his “firm resolution to take substantial and high-profile state-level measures” in response to the United Nations Security Council’s expanded sanctions against North Korea, the country’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Jan. 26.

Now observers are saying the North Korean leader may have given his approval for another nuclear test to be held in the near future.

Reporting on what it called a “meeting of national security and external relations workers on the serious situation that is prevailing” in North Korea, the KCNA said Kim advanced “special tasks” for workers in the relevant areas.

The report did not mention the nature of the “high-profile state-level measures” or special tasks. But some observers are speculating that they may have something to do with the country’s nuclear program, noting that Pyongyang hinted at the possibility of a third nuclear test in previous statements from its foreign ministry on Jan. 23 and National Defense Commission on Jan. 24.

The KCNA report also indicated that Pyongyang plans to stick with its current policy approach prioritizing investment in the armaments industry.

“A serious obstacle has emerged to [North Korea’s] efforts to focus on building the economy, based on the self-defensive war deterrent provided by Comrade Kim Jong-il, so that the people no longer have to tighten their belts,” it read.

Among the people mentioned by the KCNA as present at the meeting were Korean People’s Army general politburo director Choe Ryong-hae, Chief of the General Staff Hyon Yong-chol, Minister of State Security Kim Won-hong, Military Industry secretary Pak To-chun and international secretary Kim Yong-il, party deputy director Hong Sung-mu, and first vice minister of foreign affairs Kim Kye-kwan.

The response from North Korea to the UNSC resolution has been stronger than in years past, with the foreign ministry, NDC, and Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea each coming out to condemn it. The Jan. 26 reports of Kim’s “firm resolution to take . . . high-profile state-level measures” and outlining of “specific activities” stand in contrast with the reaction to UNSC resolutions after the country’s July 2006 missile launch and first and second nuclear tests in October 2006 and May 2009. On those occasions, its only response was to issue a statement from its foreign ministry.

Also unusual was the oblique denunciation Pyongyang directed at Beijing. The Jan. 24 NDC statement included unprecedented objections, stating that “even large countries that should be leading the way in establishing an equitable order in the world are failing to come to their senses, allowing themselves to be pressured by the United States’ tyranny and influence into abandoning the basic principles that must be upheld.”

The report read in part as propaganda designed to crack down on dissent and promote unity among North Koreans. In particular, analysts said the mention of Kim’s actions seemed intended to show that state-level steps were being taken.

Some observers are saying that if the reference to “major national measures” does mean a nuclear test, it is likely to take place no later than next month.

The Choson Sinbo, which is the newspaper for the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), reported on Jan. 21 that North Korea was “known to have sent the United States an ultimatum on the nuclear issue.” While the newspaper did not mention when or through what channel the “ultimatum” was sent, signs suggest that Pyongyang has been gearing up for another nuclear provocation since the Jan. 22 adoption of the UNSC resolution.

Some analysts are cautiously - perhaps wishfully - venturing that it is still up in the air whether or not North Korea will go through with an actual test.

In the Foreign Ministry statements issued ahead of its two previous tests, the country unambiguously announced that was “carrying out a nuclear test.” The latest messages have been much less clear-cut. The Jan. 23 foreign ministry statement talked about “expanding and strengthening the nuclear deterrent,” while the Jan. 24 statement from the NDC only made passing mention of “the high-level nuclear test we would carry out.”

A senior South Korean government official was more optimistic about the response from Pyongyang.

“Despite how it seems, the fact that North Korea enlisted several different organizations to issue threats, and not just the foreign ministry, could actually be a sign that it wants to bargain,” the official said.

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