TOKYO \u2014 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hinted Sunday that Pyongyang may ring in the new year with another bang \u2014 the test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
In his annual New Year\u2019s address, Mr. Kim said that after testing what the North claims was its first hydrogen bomb last year, preparations for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile have \u201creached the final stage\u201d
Mr. Kim did not explicitly say an ICBM test, which if successful would be a big step forward for the North, was imminent. But he has a birthday coming up next Sunday, and last year Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test Friday.
Mr. Kim threatened in the address to boost his country\u2019s military capabilities further unless the U. S. ends war games with rival South Korea. But he also said efforts must be made to defuse the possibility of another Korean war and stressed the importance of building the economy under a five-year plan announced in May.
\u201cThe political and military position of socialism should be further cemented as an invincible fortress,\u201d Mr. Kim said, according to an outline of the speech carried by the North\u2019s official Korean Central News Agency. \u201cWe should resolutely smash the enemies\u2019 despicable and vicious moves to dampen the pure and ardent desire of the people for the party and estrange the people from it.\u201d
The address was shown on television mixing video with Mr. Kim speaking and stretches of audio only, as still photos were broadcast. It was less than 30 minutes long.
South Korea\u2019s Unification Ministry said in a statement that it \u201cstrongly condemns\u201d Mr. Kim\u2019s threat to proceed with a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile and strengthen North Korea\u2019s nuclear-strike capabilities. It said that the international community will not tolerate North Korean efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and that the North will only face tougher sanctions and pressure if it continues to go down that path.
Under Mr. Kim, who rose to power following his father\u2019s death in 2011, North Korea has seen steady progress in its nuclear and missile programs, including two nuclear tests in 2016. It recently claimed a series of technical breakthroughs in its goal of developing a long-range nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental United States.
U. N. resolutions call for an end to North Korea\u2019s nuclear and missile tests. Mr. Kim appears uninterested in complying.
The year ahead could be a tumultuous one in north Asia, with Donald Trump set to become the new U. S. president Jan. 20.
Mr. Kim indicated there will be no change in the North\u2019s nuclear policy unless Washington makes a big, conciliatory first move, which, even with the advent of Mr. Trump, would seem unlikely.
Mr. Trump has somewhat offhandedly suggested he would be willing to meet with Mr. Kim \u2014 but not in North Korea \u2014 and has at the same time indicated that he wants China to exert significantly more control over Pyongyang to get it to abandon its nuclear program.
At the same time, South Korea\u2019s politics in disarray over a scandal that brought the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. Ms. Park on Sunday accused her opponents of framing her with accusations that she conspired with a longtime friend to extort money and favors from companies. Her statement came a day after the arrest of former cabinet minister Moon Hyung-pyo on charges that he illegally pressured the national pension fund to approve a merger between two Samsung subsidiaries, a deal that helped ensure that control of South Korea\u2019s most powerful conglomerate passed from its chairman to his son; a special prosecutor is seeking to determine whether Mr. Moon acted on Ms. Park\u2019s behalf.
Demands from Pyongyang for the U. S. to stop its joint military exercises with the South and enter into negotiations to sign a peace treaty formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War have fallen on deaf ears in Washington for years amid an atmosphere of distrust and deepening hostility.
Mr. Kim is in his early 30s and is now in his fifth year as the North\u2019s leader.
His New Year addresses, and a marathon speech at the May ruling party congress, are a contrast with his enigmatic father, Kim Jong Il, who rarely spoke in public. But he has yet to meet a foreign head of state or travel outside of North Korea since assuming power, and remains one the world\u2019s most mysterious national leaders.<\/p>\n

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