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Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, on Sunday reported on Donald Trump officially becoming the president of the United States .
A short article appeared at the bottom of the last page of the daily, simply stating that the businessman-turned-Republican politician was sworn in on Friday and that “the inauguration was held in Washington D.C.” It included no assessment or commentary.
Since Trump’s election victory in November, North Korea has refrained from conducting military provocations, apparently in anticipation of the new administration’s policy toward Pyongyang.
Meanwhile, Japan, the United States and South Korea remain on alert following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s recent announcement that his country has entered the final stage of preparing to test-launch a long-range missile.
Pyongyang’s missile programme and its pursuit of nuclear arms have seen it repeatedly sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
Quoting high-level South Korean officials and South Korean and US military sources, the South’s Yonhap news agency said two new missiles had been loaded onto mobile launchers.
They were believed to be equipped with new engines that the North tested last April, it added, when Pyongyang said they would “guarantee” an eventual nuclear strike on the US mainland.
The missiles’ existence appeared to have been intentionally leaked by Pyongyang, according to Yonhap, to send a “strategic message” to Trump.
Analysts are divided over how close Pyongyang is to realising its full nuclear ambitions, especially as it has never successfully test-fired an ICBM.
(KYODO)
