Tuesday, 09 February 2021_A United Nations (UN) report says North Korea maintained and developed its nuclear and ballistic missile programs under harsh international sanctions last year.
The report, prepared by independent sanctions monitors, claimed Pyongyang “produced fissile material, maintained nuclear facilities and upgraded its ballistic missile infrastructure” in breach of international sanctions.
The confidential report, seen by Reuters on Monday, said that the North had continued to seek technology for its nuclear programs from abroad.
North Korea has long been under harsh UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs. The US has spearheaded those sanctions and has imposed several rounds of its own.
The UN report also said that the North had displayed new short-range, medium-range, submarine-launched, and intercontinental ballistic missile systems at military parades.
According to the size of the missiles, the report assessed that “it is highly likely that a nuclear device” could be mounted on long-range, medium-range, and short-range ballistic missiles.
Pyongyang “announced preparation for testing and production of new ballistic missile warheads and development of tactical nuclear weapons,” it claimed.
The report, however, said it was uncertain whether Pyongyang “had developed ballistic missiles resistant to the heat generated during re-entry” into the atmosphere.
North Korea did not launch nuclear or ballistic missile tests in 2020. But the country’s leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to strengthen its military capabilities and place “the state defense capabilities on a much higher level, and put forth goals for realizing it.”
At a military parade in October 2020, Pyongyang showed off a new intercontinental ballistic missile, the first long-range weapon it had unveiled in two years.
And in a parade last month, the country displayed a submarine-borne ballistic missile that it said was “the world’s most powerful weapon.”
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