UPI:
NEW YORK, Jan. 15 (UPI) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is “gaining time” as he fine-tunes his nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs, a Japanese analyst said Tuesday.
During a conversation with former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus at Japan Society, former Lieutenant General of Japan’s Self-Defense Force Koichi Isobe said North Korea has not stopped military developments despite refraining from provocations.
“Kim Jong Un is gaining time to continue developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles,” Isobe said. “The threat of intermediate ballistic missiles [that can target Japan] still remains.”
The former Japanese commander added Tokyo faces challenges across three strategic fronts, including the Korean Peninsula.
“Since the 2010s, all three fronts have become tense. Traditional geopolitics has come back to the region.”
