North Korea leader's next move after Musudan launch drawing attention

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's next move after the recent "successful" Musudan missile launch is drawing keen attention as it could help the outside world gauge the future direction of the reclusive country, Yonhap quoted Pyongyang watchers in the South as saying on Sunday.

Observers said the actions Kim takes will be of critical importance as they could fuel confrontations or allow all sides to take stock of the current situation and try to defuse tensions.

Last week, the country claimed it successfully launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which theoretically has the range to hit some US military targets in the western Pacific, such as Guam.

South Korean and US sources have declined to definitively verify if the launch of the missile was a success or failure, but the issue was quickly and strongly condemned by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which reflects the gravity of the incident.

Seoul confirmed the IRBM reached an altitude of over 1,000 kilometers and flew some 400 km before hitting the East Sea, with some local and US experts arguing that the last Musudan test was partly successful and may indicate Pyongyang has learned from its past failures. Since April, the North has test-fired six Musudans, with five having exploded in mid-flight or crashed prematurely.

Chang Yong-seok, a researcher at Seoul National University's Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, said that at present, Pyongyang may not seek talks but strive to strengthen its capability and force the international community to give up its sanctions. He said such a tactic is aimed at getting the world to accept a settlement that is favorable to the North.

"The North's game plan may be to show off its capability so that other countries won't be able to call for denuclearization," the expert speculated.

Chang, citing Kim's orders issued in March that called for the early test of another nuclear warhead and the development of a missile capable of delivering a nuke payload, predicted the communist country may further provoke the world at large.

Source ; MENA