A U.S. expert on Korean affairs predicts that North Korea will pursue additional provocations this year.

In a newspaper contribution piece, Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington said that North Korea could attempt to flaunt its missile capability to pressure Seoul and Washington into abandoning their hard-line stances against the North.

Last year, North Korean provocations included the sinking of South Korea’s “Cheonan” naval vessel in March and the shelling of the South’s Yeonpyeong Island in November.