Another expert agreed with Pinkston’s view, saying that this is “an effort by the USA military, likely in coordination with Seoul”, to remind people of “its capabilities in the wake of the North’s fifth nuclear test”, John Grisafi, director of intelligence at NK News said.
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Following the nuclear test by Pyongyang, the UN Security Council issued a harsh statement condemning the act, and began preparations to draw up a new resolution to punish North Korea and force it to abandon its development of nuclear weapons.
He said the United States would work with China, North Korea’s major diplomatically to close loopholes in existing resolutions.
Sung Kim, the United States special envoy for North Korean policy, met South Korean officials in Seoul on Tuesday and said Washington was working closely with other nations to work out new, stronger sanctions on North Korea.
“North Korea’s nuclear test is a risky escalation and poses an unacceptable threat”, said Gen. Brooks.
China has lashed out at the United States for comments made by US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter criticizing Beijing for not doing enough to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and actions.
The Associated Press notes that flyovers by US bombers are “fairly common” when tensions flare up on the Korean peninsula.
On Monday, she ruled out dialogue with the country, saying its nuclear program was “not a bargaining chip” but a “present and urgent threat” to her country’s security. This statement is considered as hint of a possible sixth nuclear test by the US and South Korea. “The U.S. and its followers are making much fuss, creating impression that a nuclear bomb was dropped in downtown Washington or Seoul”, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
In Seoul, American and South Korean officials stepped up their warnings to the Kim regime.
On Tuesday morning, (13 September), the US Air Force flew two battle-tested supersonic B-1 Lancer bombers over South Korea in a show of solidarity with its ally, as tensions rose over North Korea’s fifth nuclear test on Friday.
On many counts, North Korea’s fifth nuclear test last week means that the world now faces the worst-case scenario: North Korea has – or is very close to having – the capability to launch a nuclear strike.
Inoki’s continuing ties with North Korea have been controversial in Japan.
A South Korean delegation visited Guam in July this year to see a similar missile interceptor system that the Pentagon deployed to Guam in 2013. In an editorial published in the wake of the North’s nuclear test, however, one of Korea’s leading newspapers, Chosun Ilbo, wrote that “the government and the USA tell South Koreans to trust the US -led nuclear umbrella”.
The U.S. has about 28,500 servicemembers stationed in South Korea.
The meeting followed last Friday’s nuclear test by the communist country, which was followed by the UN Security Council’s condemnation and a pledge to begin weaving a new set of resolutions to punish Pyongyang.
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This is because South Korea would not be able to put up defensive measures, like kill chain or Korean Air and Missile Defense system, until the early 2020s.
