U.S. officials are on high alert while the U.S. and South Korea conduct scaled-down, simulated military exercises, and U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are in Asia for meetings with their Japanese and South Korean counterparts. -Korean peers.
One senior U.S. official said North Korea might decide whether to go with a test after seeing what comes out of Blinken and Austin’s meetings in Asia.
Blinken and Austin met with their counterparts in Tokyo on Tuesday and reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete denial of North Korea” and to create opportunities for further cooperation between the US, Japan and South Korea, according to a statement from the US Department of Foreign Affairs. .
They will meet local time in South Korea on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a senior US general issued a public warning about the threat posed by North Korea
“The Kim Jong Un regime has achieved an alarming success in its quest to demonstrate the ability to threaten the American homeland with nuclear-armed ICBMs, and believes that such weapons are necessary to deter US military action and its survival. Of his regime, “said Genl. Glen Van Herck, head of the U.S. Northern Command and in charge of defending the continental United States, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
The possibility of a test in the coming days has led to Biden officials discussing in various agencies how they would react in public, officials said.
Officials will not be specific about what the latest information shows, but a likely scenario, based on footage and other intelligence, is that there could be a missile or rocket engine test. The last known North Korean weapons test was done in March 2020.
Over the past few days, U.S. intelligence has focused on vehicle activities at a site near Sanum-dong, outside Pyongyang, where ballistic missile and space launch vehicles are believed to have been built in the past.
Officials tell CNN that if North Korea does a test while both secretaries are in Asia, it will send a clear message to Biden that Kim wants to ensure he is seen as a key player in the region. However, a test would not be a shock, and many analysts were surprised that Kim did not like it for so long.
The Biden administration is still reviewing the Trump administration’s policy in North Korea, which, according to the senior State Department official, could be announced “in the coming weeks.” Although Biden is unlikely to write ‘love letters’ to Kim Jong Un like his predecessor, Biden’s government has not yet given a clear break from the previous government in its stated goals for its approach to the Hermit Kingdom. U.S. officials have said on several occasions, in testimony, statements or briefings, that their goal is “the complete deprivation of North Korea.”
Military and intelligence officials have long said they judge that North Korea has continued research and development of missiles and nuclear warheads throughout the Trump administration, despite Trump’s public rhetoric and now the Biden administrations on denial. “North Korea’s continued pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs poses an extraordinary threat to the United States and our allies and partners in the region,” said David Helvey, acting assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs. , told the House Armed. Service Committee last week.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Nicole Gaouette and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.