Review 2017: North Korea, missiles and diplomacy

2017 외교안보: 북한 핵개발, 사드 배치, 위안부 검토
North Korea as well as other foreign affairs and national security related stories are what we'll be focusing on next.
To help us dissect all the events in those realms that made 2017 unique we have our Defense correspondent Oh Jung-hee and Kwon Jang-ho from the foreign ministry.
Good to have you with us.

Great to be here.

We saw tensions on the peninsula brewing to another level... with the change of leaderships in countries involved.
And this is where you come in Jung-hee,.. what was the biggest North Korea story for 2017?

Semin,... before that here are the numbers.
North Korea conducted one nuclear test and 15 missile tests this year,... firing 20 missiles in total.
That's less than in 2016... but I'd say this year's provocations were bolder and more daring.


If we look at last year's missile launches,... they had maximum range of 3,000 kilometers,... putting the U.S. territory of Guam within reach.
But this year, Pyongyang's missiles reached higher and higher altitudes.
If fired at a normal trajectory, the latest Hwasong-15 is seen to have gone a lot further...
-- up to 13 or 14-thousand kilometers -- putting whole continental United States within reach.
After that test, Pyongyang claimed it was a successful one... that the regime has completed its weapons program.

But we can't take the claim at face value -- many see there're more to be proven... like the weight of nuclear warhead... and the missile re-entry technology.

The international community responded.
Tightening the noose further.
The United Nations adopting its strongest ever sanctions on Pyongyang.
Jangho, do give us a recap of how the world tried and force a positive turnaround from the regime.

There were three new UN resolutions on North Korea this year. That's the most in any single year. They're also the strongest ever, and, to briefly list you some of the sanctions...
all coal exports from the regime have been banned, as well as textiles, food products, iron and other metals and minerals. Imports of petroleum products was also slashed by 90-percent, as well as a cap on crude oil. Dozens of individuals and firms have been added to an international blacklist as well. Experts say we are starting to see some signs they are having an effect within the regime - North Korean state media reports are also warning the public to brace for difficulties - but so far it's too early to tell how well they are working, and with recent reports that say China and Russia have secretly been supplying oil at sea there will be calls for the all parties to enforce them more strictly.


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