North Korea missile test ‘really changes things’

Japan and South Korea are deeply concerned about North Korea’s new ballistic missile tests. Justifiable concerns, thinks Remko Brucker, professor of Korean studies at Leiden University. “North Korea has nothing to show for it here.”

According to reports, it could be a new type of medium and long-range missile. “It changes things,” Brooker says, especially if the rocket is equipped with solid instead of liquid fuel. This means that a rocket can be prepared and launched at any time, instead of old rockets that need to be filled first. That makes a big difference when anticipating a potential attack.’

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America and Europe are within reach

North Korea has an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of at least 12,000 kilometers. Through this they can easily reach America and Europe. Brooker is still skeptical. ‘We know very little. All that is certain is that North Korea has tested new types of missiles several times in recent months.

North Korea and South Korea regularly communicate daily to avoid tension between the two countries. This is Hotline However, there has been no response from the North Korean side for seven days. “They are doing this to scare South Korea, but they know something is coming.”

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While Japan and South Korea were angry, North Korea took control of the situation

Japan and South Korea have been angered by North Korea’s recent missile tests that narrowly missed the Japanese mainland. But they can’t do more than get angry. Japan could launch missiles at North Korea, but that would only escalate the situation.

The same applies to South Korea, says Brooker. “They say they don’t want to talk to North Korea anymore, but they don’t answer the phone anyway. North Korea has shown itself to be very good at initiating and controlling situations where the other side really can’t do much more than watch and intimidate.

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