Former US vice president Pence blames Biden administration for North Korea missile tests

Former US vice president Pence has blamed the administration of President Joe Biden for North Korea’s latest missile test, which has created panic in the United States.  

“The fact that for the first time in more than four years, Kim Jong-un fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that went into space and landed in the Sea of Japan is a great concern,” Pence said in an interview on Friday.

“South Korea responded strongly with five different short-range missile launches, but it's important to remember this stopped happening under the Trump-Pence administration because we stood up to Kim Jong-un. We brought a maximum pressure campaign on him.”

North Korea on Friday confirmed that it test-fired its biggest-yet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the orders of leader Kim Jong-un, marking an end to a self-imposed moratorium on such tests.

The leader of North Korea was present at Thursday’s launch of what is being described as a “new type” of ICBM – the Hwasong-17.

It was the nuclear-armed country’s first full ICBM test since 2017 and appeared to have traveled higher and further than any previous missiles tested by Pyongyang to boost its nuclear deterrent against the US.

According to North Korea’s state media, the missile was launched from Pyongyang International Airport, traveling up to a maximum altitude of 6,248 km and flying a distance of 1,090 km during a 67-minute flight, before falling into the Sea of Japan.

The Hwasong-17 is a giant ICBM, first unveiled in a military parade in October 2020, and dubbed a "monster missile" by military experts. It had never previously been successfully test-fired.

Pence claimed that the Biden administration was “begging” Iran to reenter the Iran nuclear deal, which he said was interpreted as capitulation by North Korea.

“I honestly believe that as you see the Biden administration, you know, literally begging Iran to reenter the Iran nuclear deal. I think that has sent a message of capitulation that they are hearing in North Korea, and so they're back to their old cycle of provocation,” Pence said.

“Again, I've said many times, you know, peace comes through strength, but weakness arouses evil.”

North Korean leader’s sister warns US against ‘causing a stink’

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s influential sister warns the administration of US President Joe Biden against “causing a stink at its first step,” as senior American officials are in the region for visits to Japan and South Korea.

North and South Korea are still technically at war as the 1953 war they fought ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

They were on a path of rapprochement beginning in January 2018 before the US killed diplomacy.

Former US President Donald Trump met with the North’s leader three times, but he refused to meet Pyongyang’s demand for the removal of some sanctions in return for major North Korean measures toward demilitarization.

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