“Assessment by South Korean and USA intelligence is that the North is always ready for an additional nuclear test in the Punggye-ri area”, the site of the North’s five nuclear explosions, South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun told a news briefing.
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“We will be working together very closely in the Security Council and beyond to come up the strongest possible measure against North Korea’s latest action”, Kim told reporters in Tokyo after meeting his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi.
Speaking to media in Tokyo after meeting Japanese Foreign Ministry officials, Kim said, specific details of the USA unilateral sanctions are yet to be decided.
The state-run news agency, KCNA, said a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement Sunday that Obama’s threats meant nothing.
There are also growing calls in the South for Seoul to ask the USA to once again deploy nuclear weapons on its territory.
Also on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing firm opposition to the nuclear test and commitment to settle the problems through the six-party talks on Pyongyang’s denuclearization.
After the test, the North’s nuclear weapons institute said it will take unspecified measures to further boost its nuclear capability, which analysts said hinted at a possible sixth nuclear test. The U.N. Security Council is strongly condemning North Korea’s l.
“It’s clear that Kim Jong-un has absolutely no interest whatsoever in changing”, said Yun.
Seoul’s defense ministry repeated its claim from last week that the North has an additional tunnel set up at its Punggye-ri site – the location of all five tests since 2006.
“North Korea is seeking to ideal its nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles so they can hold the region and the world hostage under threat of nuclear strike”, Power said.
“The mission is aimed at reinforcing the USA commitment to its key ally following North Korea’s nuclear test”, a USFK spokesman told AFP. The United States, Britain and France pushed for the 15-member body to impose new sanctions.
Donald Trump, the republican presidential candidate, didn’t outline his plans for defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and instead used the North Korean development to attack Clinton, reported the AP.
North Korea’s pursuit of missiles and nuclear weapons is one of the most intractable foreign policy problems for the US and South Korea.
The warning of additional test is based on three tunnels excavated at Punggye-ri near which all of its underground nuclear tests were conducted.
Experts say the North is likely years away from developing an effective nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.
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U.S. troops have been based in South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War ended only in an armistice and not a full peace treaty.
