An expert on North Korea has warned that tensions between the United States and Pyongyang could increase following reports that Kim Jong Un's regime is preparing to launch a missile soon in the aftermath of a failed summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, The Hill reported on Sunday.
Victor Cha, who was in charge of Korea relations in the George W. Bush administration, said he is concerned “that this could get worse before it gets better because both sides want to try to figure out how to get the other side back to the table. And they may say pressure is the way to do that.”
Cha emphasized that reported activity at a long-range rocket launch site previously shut down as part of a promise from the first summit between Kim and Trump last year is a deliberate effort “by North Korea, in response to the inconclusive results of the Hanoi summit, to send a message, really, to President Trump and the world.”
He added that "One of the lessons… that both sides took away from the summit is that pressure works... And then you see, in terms of our imagery, that the North Korean response is to go back to some of these sites that they know bother us… and say, 'Look, we’re going to start doing some stuff here too.'"
However, Dr. Sue Mi Terry, a former senior analyst at the CIA and a former National Security Council staffer who is now with CSIS, said “I don’t think it’s necessarily North Korea’s return to provocations.”
She suggested instead “it’s a signal they are trying to send to show their resolve.”
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