U.S. experts offer analysis of N. Korea missile launch

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo requested an emergency UNSC meeting to discuss the hermit kingdom's
ballistic missile launch.
At this point it's hard to define the intent behind the provocative act, so our Connie
Kim turned to some expert analysis.
Two U.S. experts have weighed in on North Korea's latest missile launch, which happened
just three weeks after President Donald Trump came into office.
Ken Gause, a senior North Korea analyst at U.S. think tank CNA Corporation, characterized
the Sunday launch as a purposely restrained message,... and said North Korea was testing
Washington to see the nature of the U.S. response and whether it would represent a shift in
strategy from the Obama administration.
However, Robert Manning, a senior analyst at the Atlantic Council, another U.S. think
tank, said it would be a mistake to see Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests as mere provocations.
He characterized the launch, and the North's efforts to develop missiles and nuclear weapons
over the past 35 years, as a North Korean version of Eisenhower's "massive retaliation"
nuclear strategy of the 1950s to compensate for shortcomings in conventional military
capabilities.
Washington hasn't yet taken any individual action since Sunday's launch, but South Korea,
the United States and Japan have requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting to
discuss North Korea's ballistic missile launch.
In addition, U.S. lawmaker Cory Gardner, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee
on East Asia and Pacific Affairs,... has called for a secondary boycott of Chinese companies
that do business with North Korea.
Existing UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea ban any kind of launches using
ballistic missile technology.
On top of that, China's foreign ministry has expressed its objections to the launch.
"China opposes North Korea's violation of U.N. resolutions by carrying out the relevant
launches.
At the present condition, the relevant parties should not anything mutually provocative that
might worsen tensions on the Korean Peninsula."
"Regardless of the motive, the launch is being considered as a grave provocation and North
Korea is expected to draw international condemnation at a closed-door meeting of the UN Security
Council slated for Monday in New York.
Connie Kim, Arirang News."

U.S. experts offer analysis of N. Korea missile launch

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