Blinken: N. Korea Shows Qualitative Improvement in Weapons Capability

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken has assessed that North Korea’s weapons capabilities have witnessed "qualitative improvement” in the last year.
According to the Associated Press, Blinken unveiled the assessment at a joint news conference in Washington on Thursday after holding talks with South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama.
While noting Pyongyang conducted several nuclear and missile tests last year, Blinken added that the North learns from every single experiment, including failures.
Sugiyama, on his part, said that North Korea's nuclear and missile programs represent a "new level of threat." He said though the North both failed and succeeded in missile tests, its accuracy has improved.
Sugiyama underlined the need for Seoul, Washington and Tokyo to cooperate in terms of security. He added that though some changes are expected in the U.S.' Asia policy, the importance of the alliances with the U.S. will continue to be upheld by the Trump administration.
Earlier in the day, the three officials adopted a joint fact sheet under which they vowed to isolate and pressure the North to meet the goal of making the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free.
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