North Korea is ready to carry out another nuclear test at any time, South Korea’s defence ministry said, three days after the North’s fifth such test drew widespread condemnation.
Advertisement
“North Korea has a tunnel where it can conduct an additional nuclear test”.
His spokesman Moon Sang-gyun, said Monday if another nuclear test happened, it could come from a second or third site at Punggye-ri, where Friday’s test took place.
Work at No. 3 tunnel at Punggye-ri test site appears complete, suggesting Pyongyang could conduct a test at any time, Yonhap said.
Yonhap reported that a planned USA military B-1B bomber flight to the Korean peninsula had been scheduled for Monday but was delayed because of bad weather.
Hwang said during a meeting that North Korea’s “fanatical development of nuclear arms and missiles would become the poison that would hasten the destruction of its regime rather than consolidate it”.
The UN Security Council quickly denounced North Korea’s explosion with the United States, Britain and France pushing the 15-member body to impose a fresh round of sanctions, but many believe that the only thing that will get Kim Jong-un to back down is if the Chinese government of Xi Jinping applies greater economic pressure on the North Koreans.
On Sunday, one South Korean military source told the Yonhap news agency that Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, could be annihilated if it showed any signs of mounting a nuclear attack.
The UN Security Council has already agreed to start drawing up new sanctions against North Korea, something the North called “laughable”.
The envoy will arrive in Seoul later on Monday and hold talks with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Hong-Kyun, on Tuesday morning.
Both China and Russian Federation backed sanctions imposed in March following the North’s January nuclear test, but their apparent ambivalence about fresh sanctions cast doubt on the Security Council’s ability to quickly form a consensus.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday a “creative” response was needed.
“The essence of the issue is the conflict between the DPRK and the United States”, said Hua Chunying, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, using country’s official name.
The official however declined to name the bomber’s type or the fleet’s size would be.
Advertisement
Yonhap has close ties to South Korea’s government and is publicly funded.
