North Korea missile tests ‘on low end of spectrum’ of provocations says Biden official
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This picture taken and released on July 4, 2017 by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location.
(Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)The recent missile testing conducted by North Korea was part of the North’s “normal military activity” that isn’t covered by UN Security Council resolutions and probably won’t merit a response, said a senior Biden administration official.
“While we take all military activity seriously and will continue to consult closely on this with partners now I see this action in the category of most normal military activities by the North,” the official said on Tuesday.
“North Korea has a familiar menu of provocations when it wants to send a message to US administration — ballistic missiles of various range, mobile and submarine launch platforms, nuclear and thermonuclear tests — experts rightly recognised what took place last weekend is falling on the low end of that spectrum.”
Pyongyang fired at least one missile over the weekend in its first test firing since Joe Biden entered the White House.
Administration officials have not publicly clarified what type of weapon was launched, where it was fired or the success of the test.
The official added that the Biden administration does not believe that it is “in our best interest to hype these things” because such activities are “part of quote-unquote a normal set of tests in a military environment like we see on the Korean peninsula.”
“We do not respond publicly to every kind of test,” the official added,
