North Korea leader Kim Jong-un pledged to further develop nuclear weapons and the national economy with his byungjin (parallel development) policy.
But a robust period of regime support and successful missile testing could prompt Pyongyang to focus on the nuclear side of the development programme.
Korea Working Group director John Park said: “It’s actually a robust period, a great deal of jubilation in North Korea that they are making great strides in this game plan of byungjin.
“Overall I think we are going to see North Korea – as we’ve seen Kim Jong-un’s mention in his New Year’s address – going to the next stage which is mass-produced nuclear weapons to operationalise and deploy.”
North Korea has been fueling World War 3 fears by refusing to shut down its nuclear development programme.
The United States and its allied countries in East Asia have been ramping up their military pressure in the hopes to convince leader Kim Jong-un to abandon his nuclear ambitions but have so far failed in their attempts.
US President Donald Trump also used a recent visit to the region to wrangle the support of North Korea’s only ally China to exercise a positive influence on Pyongyang – urging the rogue state to re-enter diplomatic talks with the international community.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Dr Park continued: “You are looking at countries like the United States and its allies in the region using more the military pressure approach.
“You are seeing the Chinese and the Russians trying some sort of diplomatic offer. They proposed something called the ‘freeze for freeze.’ North Korea would freeze its nuclear development programme and the United States and South Korea would freeze their military exercises.”
But scathing exchanges between Kim Jong-un and President Trump dashed expectations of a peaceful resolution of the crisis, with the two leaders exchanging increasingly aggressive threats.
President Trump used his personal Twitter to warn Pyongyang that the United States has a “much bigger and more powerful” nuclear button, signalling the US remains prepared to hit back in the event of an attack.
North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric spurred the United Nations to issues a series of harsh sanctions in an attempt to cut off Pyongyang economically.
But reports suggest China continues to provide the Kim regime with oil despite having pledged to cut back on its economic relationship with the rogue regime.