The South Korean president made the statement during a meeting with ruling and opposition party leaders, who have been divided over the deployment of THAAD, a USA anti-missile defense system.
Advertisement
“Assessment by South Korean and U.S. intelligence is that the North is always ready for an additional nuclear test in the Punggye-ri area”, the site of North Korea’s five nuclear explosions, South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun told a news briefing. This is because Beijing sees it as another bid by the United States to contain China.
“Our intention is to secure the strongest possible (U.N. Security Council) resolution that includes new sanctions as quickly as possible”, Kim told a news briefing after holding discussions with his South Korean counterpart.
“China is strongly opposed to North Korea’s nuclear weapons but at the same time opposes the defense system in South Korea”, it quoted assistant professor of worldwide relations at Renmin University Cheng Xiaohe as saying.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter reportedly called for further pressure on the DPRK last Friday after the country carried out a new nuclear test and said China bears “responsibility” for tackling the problem.
The Security Council has denounced the latest test and said it would begin work immediately on a resolution.
China urges the United States to take due responsibility for the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and provide effective solutions, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. The United States, Britain and France – three of the five veto-wielding permanent members – have pushed for the 15-member body to impose new sanctions.
Following the North’s nuclear test last week, President Obama issued a statement condemning it as “a grave threat to regional security and to global peace and stability”. Russian Federation and China are the other veto powers on the Security Council.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, formerly the country’s chief nuclear negotiator, arrived in Beijing on Monday and was seen entering the country’s embassy, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.
“As a effect, over the next several years, the likelihood of nuclear conflict in Korea will become dramatically higher than in the past”, he said.
North Korean media also said the focus of a 200-day “loyalty campaign” already underway to mobilize the nation behind leader Kim Jong Un in a mandatory show of devotion had been switched to a call for all citizens to support the recovery effort, The Associated Press reported.
“Resuming the six-party talks is hard, but we can not give up easily”, Hua said.
Advertisement
A group of lawmakers in South Korea said on Monday the country should have a nuclear force of its own, either by acquiring weapons or asking the United States to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons withdrawn under a 1991 pact for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. The bombers were likely to return to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, without landing in South Korea.
