North Korea prepares for new round of nuclear weapons tests

North Korea is reportedly in the final stages for a new round of nuclear weapons tests, Pyongyang announced Sunday.

The tests are focused on the country’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile, North Korean President Kim Jong-un said in a nationally televised speech on New Year’s Day, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap News

“Research and development of cutting edge arms equipment is actively progressing and … test launch preparation is in its last stage,” Mr. Kim said.

The new weapon, he said, could be used to launch nuclear strikes against neighboring South Korea and the U.S. if both nations refuse to cut military ties.

Ongoing military exercises between Seoul and Washington, which retains a significant troop presence on the peninsula, have ratcheted up in recent years as Pyongyang’s actions have become more belligerent since Mr. Kim took power last year.

While North Korea’s repeated nuclear saber-rattling has raised tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, its test record for its burgeoning nuclear stockpile has yet to pose a tangible threat to the U.S.

North Korea’s military leaders have achieved only a single successful test-fire of its Musudan intercontinental ballistic missile since its development in early 2000, despite numerous tests.

In October alone, North Korea conducted two failed weapons tests of the Musudan, a nuclear-capable missile with an anticipated range of between 1,800 to 2,500 miles, within a single week.

The failed tests prove that Pyongyang has “shown their limits” in development of nuclear weapons, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min Koo said at the time.

But the tests may be less about nuclear weapons development and more about firing a warning shot at the incoming Donald Trump administration, a former North Korean diplomat said Sunday.

“Due to domestic political procedures, North Korea calculates that South Korea and the U.S. will not be able to take physical or military actions to deter North Korea’s nuclear development,” Thae Yong Ho told Yonhap News.

“North Korea believes that relentless provocations must shift new [South Korean and U.S.] governments’ policy lines into more stability-focused ones,” he added.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump stunned U.S. military officials and the defense policy establishment with his suggestion that the U.S. should stop trying to prevent South Korea and Japan from obtaining nuclear weapons.