SPUTNIK: North Korea has fired at least one unidentified projectile, South Korea's military stated on Thursday. Firstly, how significant is this and what does it mean for peace talks between North Korea, South Korea and the US?
Tom: The move can be seen as part of a progression really, such as it's going to be development from Saturday's earlier test where a smaller scale device was tested, which didn't draw quite as much of a reaction from the US. What I believe, is the purpose of this most recent tests is to draw a stronger reaction from Washington, which Pyongyang believe may bring it to back to the table, because I don't think that Washington was 100% serious last time but at the same time, despite this increased tensions, it is not quite a game changer in that it does not quite draw across the red lines at such as a nuclear passwords, because that's what the red line for the agreements. In some ways it is doing the most sticking to draw strong agreement and strong reaction, but without actually crossing any sort of red line.
SPUTNIK: Could we expect any retaliatory actions from either South Korea or the US against North Korea? Is there a fear that this provocation could lead to an escalation in the region?
Tom: Again, that's always a possibility and in some ways, even though this isn't quite as drastic as a nuclear test this could draw a strong reaction, but it's not necessarily the one that Pyongyang would want. At the end of the day, what they want is they want to bring the US back to the table as they had previously; but yes, it can equally go the other way.
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SPUTNIK: What does this mean for the North's nuclear weapons programme? Could we see the North continue to develop and enrich uranium?
Tom: Well, I think what is interesting, is that it's the context and this has taken place. In many ways, the nuclear programme because one of the few Trump cards North Korea have. An interesting parallel is how currently North Korea is treated with say the mistake of the Iran deal, which the US has pulled out of. The reaction is very different. So you see the US trying to negotiate with North Korea more but become more bellicose with Iran, which to our knowledge does not have any nuclear weapons. So yes, I think as a result that North Korea would be very reluctant to let any of that go without any significant concession, and again, as with the Iran case, it might give them even more an incentive to the look for a nuclear program, which is ironic, given the whole point of the deal was to prevent precisely that.
The views and opinions expressed in the article are those of Tom Harper and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.