The US Department of the Treasury on Friday announced new sanctions after North Korea tested parts of its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in two recent launches, a sign it is likely to fire the weapon soon to put a spy satellite into orbit in what would be its most significant provocation in years.
The department cited a ballistic missile launch on Friday last week in unveiling restrictions against three Russian-based entities that aided ongoing development of North Korea’s military capabilities. The companies are Apollon, Zeel-M and RK Briz; two people tied to those companies would also be sanctioned.
The sanctions block access to any US assets held by the companies, as well as Apollon director Aleksandr Andreyevich Gayevoy and Zeel-M director Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Chasovnikov, who also controls RK Briz.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Separately, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense said it detected signs that North Korea was possibly restoring some of the tunnels at its nuclear testing ground, which were detonated in May 2018, weeks ahead of leader Kim Jong-un’s first summit with then-US president Donald Trump.
The ministry did not say whether it believes North Korea was restoring the site to resume tests of nuclear explosives.
In 2018, North Korea unilaterally suspended long-range and nuclear tests before it entered denuclearization talks with the US. The talks collapsed in 2019 due to disputes over US-led sanctions, and top North Korean officials recently hinted at lifting the weapons test moratorium.
Seoul’s statement about the nuclear testing ground came after recent commercial satellite images showed a possible resumption of construction activity at the site in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri. It was used for North Korea’s sixth and last nuclear test in 2017.
Analysts who studied the satellite images say it is unclear how long it would take for North Korea to restore the site for nuclear detonations.
North Korea’s neighbors detected two ballistic launches last week. Pyongyang later said it was testing cameras and other systems to be installed on a spy satellite, but did not disclose what missiles or rockets it used.
After analyzing the launches, the US and South Korean militaries concluded they involved an ICBM system under development that North Korea first unveiled during a military parade in October 2020.
The ICBM in focus is the Hwasong-17, North Korea’s biggest missile, which could potentially fly up to 15,000km, far enough to strike anywhere in the US and beyond. The 25m missile, which was shown again at a defense exhibition in Pyongyang last year, has yet to be test-launched.
Kwon Yong-soo, a former professor at Korea National Defense University in South Korea, said the estimated thrust of the Hwasong-17 suggests it is powerful enough to place multiple reconnaissance satellites into orbit in a single launch.
The liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 might be too big and lack mobility given North Korea’s poor road conditions, he said.
The launch could be a show of force, but a spy satellite could sharply increase North Korea’s capability to monitor the movements of US aircraft carriers and other strategic assets, Kwon added.
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