North Korea missile tests: Biggest launch since 2017

Dr Daniel Pinkston, a lecturer in international relations, told the BBC there were four main reasons why North Korea tests missiles: for engineering purposes to test new systems; for military exercises; for political signalling to different audiences; and as an advertisement for foreign buyers.

North Korea may be signalling to big powers such as China, the US and the UN Security Council, but also regional foes and also the Korean peninsula, he said.

“There’s a South Korean presidential election coming up in just over a month, so this is consistent with their past behaviour to try and intimidate South Korea and the incoming president,” said Dr Pinkston, from Troy University and who lives in South Korea.

“And then there’s the domestic audience inside North Korea which I think a lot of people underestimate, for that audience inside North Korea this is a way of signalling strength and resolve and the power of the leadership.”

According to other analysts, the missiles tested earlier this month showed North Korea was developing technology that can defeat the costly and complex missile defence systems that America and Japan have been deploying across this region.

Former South Korean naval commander Professor Kim Dong Yup said: “They want to have a deterrence system that is like a scorpion’s tail.”

“North Korea’s main purpose is not to attack but to defend themselves,” says Professor Kim, adding that the country is trying “to secure a diversified deterrent capability”.

Meanwhile, Uk Yang, research fellow at Center for Foreign Policy and National Security told Reuters that “Kim seems to be ramping up tests in bid to pressure both Washington and Beijing over sanctions just ahead of the Olympics”.

-BBC.