North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides the third enlarged meeting of the seventh Central Military Commission of the country's ruling Workers' Party of Korea in this video footage released by the country's state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV), Dec. 22. KCTV-Yonhap

Pyongyang can adopt new diplomacy on neighboring countries

By Jung Da-min

Days ahead of the year-end deadline set by North Korea for its denuclearization negotiations with the United States, experts raised speculations Tuesday that what North Korea has described to be a "Christmas gift" for the U.S. could be a declaration of the country's "new way" of its diplomacy with the U.S. and other neighboring countries. They said it would be revealed at a plenary meeting of the central committee of the country's ruling party.

Earlier this month, North Korea announced that leaders of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) will convene the 5th plenary meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the WPK in late December. The country's state media have yet to report further details. The country has repeatedly warned the U.S. that it would seek a "new way" unless the U.S. comes up with solutions for the stalemate in negotiations, saying, "it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get."

"North Korea's description of the Christmas gift is more rhetorical and could indicate its new diplomatic strategies toward the U.S. and South Korea and also how it would form solidarity with China and Russia," said Hong Min, director of the North Korea research office at the Korea Institute for National Unification. Hong added that there is also a possibility for military provocation by the North depending on developments in the negotiations, though it is unlikely to happen in the near future.

"There are various items and options on the North's table and they will adapt their new way to respond adequately to changing circumstances. When we talk about North Korea's new way, there is no certain or decided way, but it's rather fluid," Hong said. "There is a possibility that North Korea will test its weapons with high strategic value but not something like intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs). The North is unlikely to test ICBMs or IRBMs from the very beginning."

Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea analyst at Dongguk University in Seoul, said the North would not take the risk of testing an ICBM but could continue a lower level of armed provocation such as test-firing of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

"It is not certain at this point whether [the Christmas gift] will be the declaration of a new way or a lower level of armed provocation," Kim said. He said if the North chooses to go ahead with another provocative weapons test, it could be part of Kim Jong-un's inspection of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province.

North Korea's Academy of National Defense Science conducted two "crucial" tests at the launching site on Dec. 7 and 13, the country's state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, not revealing further details.

On Dec. 14, the KCNA ran a statement by Park Jong-chon, chief of the General Staff of the North's
Korean People Army (KPA), saying, "The Academy of Defense Science has recently registered great successes in bolstering up the defense capabilities while successfully conducting tests of great significance one after another."

It added, "The priceless data, experience and new technologies gained in the recent tests of defense science research will be fully applied to the development of another strategic weapon of the DPRK for definitely and reliably restraining and overpowering the nuclear threat of the U.S." DPRK is the acronym for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Kyungnam University's Far East Institute, said the test is likely to have been related to the engine of an ICBM, citing the North's description.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong-un presided the third enlarged meeting of the seventh Central Military Commission of the WPK, the KCNA reported Dec. 22. Kim addressed the importance of political measures and military steps "to bolster up the overall armed forces of the country including the People's Army" citing "the fast-changing situation and crucial time of the developing Korean revolution."