Inter-Korean tensions soar to new heights [REWIND 2023]

Inter-Korean tensions showed no signs of abating in 2023 as the North tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in April, followed by its first successful launch of a military spy satellite into orbit in November.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observes the launch of a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile on Dec. 18 in this photo released the day after by the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the regime’s ruling Workers’ Party. [NEWS1]

Inter-Korean tensions showed no signs of abating in 2023 as the North tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in April, followed by its first successful launch of a military spy satellite into orbit in November.

The launch of the Hwasong-18 — Pyongyang’s first solid-fuel ICBM — underlined the regime’s pronouncements that it possesses a growing and diversifying array of weapons to strike the mainland United States.

While Pyongyang fired Hwasong-18 ICBMs on two more occasions in July and December, the weapons test that Seoul found most provocative was the regime’s successful launch of a spy satellite on Nov. 21, which led South Korea to partially suspend restrictions on border reconnaissance that had been instituted under the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.

In turn, the North announced that it would terminate its participation in the pact.

The North’s successful launch of a spy satellite — a military asset long coveted by regime leader Kim Jong-un — came after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in a rare summit that took place in the Russian Far East in September.

Their meeting has had wide-ranging repercussions.

Seoul and Washington believe that Pyongyang received significant technological assistance for its satellite program from Moscow in return for supplying armaments and artillery ammunition to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The exchange also highlighted the limits of U.S. efforts to isolate North Korea and Russia and the growing cohesion among countries aligned against the United States and its allies.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]