US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haynes said on the 3rd that North Korea has judged that China will not be held accountable for its armed provocations.
At the Reagan Defense Forum held in California on the same day, Haines said, “North Korea conducted an unusually large number of weapons tests this year, and acknowledged that China is unlikely to be held accountable.”
He added that China has many domestic issues to focus on besides the North Korea issue at the moment.
North Korea has fired an unprecedented 60 ballistic missiles this year, including several intercontinental ballistic missile test launches this year.
Haines also said that North Korea now has more influence over Russia as the international order has changed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, making it more difficult to seek additional sanctions against North Korea at the United Nations.
Haynes said the United States has “seen some movement” in North Korea’s arms supply to Russia, but “not much at this point.”
At the forum that day, John Aquilino, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, said, “China has no incentive to prevent any country, including North Korea, from causing problems with the United States.”
Commander Aquilino said China has considerable leverage to pressure North Korea over weapons testing, but is not optimistic that Beijing will “do anything that helps stabilize the region.”
This is Kim Young-gyo’s VOA News.
