Intercontinental missile or nuclear experiment? The US is preparing for North Korea's "Christmas gift."

By the end of the year, Pyongyang exploded in Washington to rescue its nuclear disarmament talks, experts say, renewing its military capabilities daily. Despite its threats and allies, the United States has adhered to its calls for a diplomatic solution: The unit "

Intercontinental missile or nuclear experiment? The US is preparing for North Korea's "Christmas gift."

The United States is closely monitoring signs of a missile launch or a potential nuclear experiment that is likely to be conducted in North Korea in the coming days, which officials call "Christmas surprise." A significant launch or test means the deadline expired by Pyongyang, as well as raising tensions in the region. This will be a major blow to one of the Trump administration's major foreign policy initiatives: the urge to return North Korea to its nuclear disarmament and missile negotiations.

According to US sources, earlier this month the Asian Republic conducted an engine test. Pyongyang described it as "vital," and experts believe it may be a space launch vehicle or a long-range missile, and have also expressed concern that the test is a prelude to launching an intercontinental ballistic missile in the coming weeks.

Any test involving the use of an intercontinental ballistic missile would have a very serious impact on diplomatic effort, as this would be considered a step by North Korea on the path to gaining the ability to hit the United States, or worse, to show that it already possessed it. "North Korea has progressed and built new capabilities," said Anthony Weir, a former foreign ministry official and member of the National Legislative Committee on Nuclear Disarmament Monitoring. "As long as this continues, they will gain new capabilities with which they will try new missiles to threaten us and our allies in new ways."

Read more on the subject

Fear of influence over diplomatic efforts. Civilians watching missile launch project from North Korea (Photo: AP)

People watch TV screens during missile launches from North Korea, Seoul, South Korea October 31, 2019 (Photo: AP)

North Koreans have already warned of a possible "Christmas gift" in early December, saying the Trump administration is running out of time to save nuclear negotiations. According to them, the United States must now choose which "Christmas gift" it will receive from the North. Victor Cha, an expert on Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Research, said that a review of the possible launch sites in North Korea indicated that they were "ready to go." He said the expected launch could be a ballistic missile test or a solid-fuel missile.

The use of solid fuel will allow North Korea to fuel the missile faster, making it difficult for the United States and recent states to prepare for counter-launch. In addition, the launches from the sea are more difficult to detect and limit the ability to respond to them. Che said, "At least one of them will be a new kind of problem that the United States will have to deal with."

North Korea conducted another "very significant" experiment on a satellite launch site

"Watching the Korean Peninsula for a quarter of a century." Asper (Photo: Reuters)

United States Secretary of Defense Mark Asper, December 20, 2019 (Photo: Reuters)

United States Secretary of Defense Mark Asper told reporters earlier this week that Washington had heard all the talk of a possible experiment close to Christmas. "I've been watching the Korean Peninsula for a quarter of a century. I know their tactics, their flare," he said. "We need to be serious and sit down and negotiate a political agreement that will dismantle nuclear weapons on the peninsula. This is the best way forward and probably the only way if we intend to achieve something constructive."

US Deputy Foreign Minister Stephen Begun, special envoy to North Korea on behalf of the United States, also warned of a possible launch. "We are fully aware of North Korea's potential to provoke a major provocation in the coming days," he said. "To say the least, such an action would not help achieve lasting peace in the Korean Peninsula."

"Trump policy does not work"

At a June 2018 meeting in Singapore, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a joint statement stating that the North "undertakes to work for the complete dissolution of the Korean Peninsula". However, this year's negotiations were stagnated after the United States rejected Northern sanctions relief requirements in exchange for partially surrendering its nuclear capabilities, this as part of Kim's second summit with Trump last February. Since then, the experiments, as well as Pyongyang's rhetoric, have only escalated.

Since the Singapore summit, Che said, Pyongyang has performed further experiments and increased its missile capabilities. "In most metrics, Trump's policy is not successful," he said. According to US Army data, North Korea has launched more than twenty missiles this year. They included new types of missiles used by Pyongyang, such as a submarine-launched ballistic missile, contrary to United States Security Council resolutions. "The Trump administration and President Trump himself deserve some credit for allowing diplomacy," said senior Weir. "It's a good thing. It's time to empower real diplomacy."

The negotiations that took place this year were frozen. Trump and Kim (Photo: Reuters)

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, June 30, 2019 (Photo: Reuters)

In 2017, North Korea conducted a wave of launch trials. It launched two new medium-range missiles over Japan, and threatened to fire them at Guam, which is in American territory. Pyongyang has also tested three intercontinental ballistic missiles, which include a certain type of missile that the fish can range to the American continent.

These experiments triggered backlash in the United States. Trump said he would bring "fire and rage" on North Korea, exchanging threats with Kim for total annihilation, while appearing to be pushing for war on the Korean Peninsula. Kim then suspended the intercontinental ballistic missile trials as well as the nuclear experiments, which allowed Trump to boast of his foreign policy victory. Asper said the United States sent a delegation to the Korean Peninsula and they are requesting a meeting. At the same time, he said that the U.S. military, located in South Korea and numbering about 28,000, remained on high alert.

US Secretary of Defense has visited North Korea twice since taking office. One of the main issues addressed was the reduction of joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea - a measure designed to appease North Korea to return to the negotiating table on the issue of disarmament.