Separately Tuesday, the US reconfirmed its commitment to defend South Korea against North Korean threats, saying in a statement after a meeting of the nations’ defense officials that it has “extended deterrent capabilities, including conventional, missile defense, and nuclear capabilities”.
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China has raised concerns about the USA missile defense system and has blamed the United States for pressuring China to take responsibility for North Korean belligerence.
The Chinese foreign minister said he welcomes additional United Nations Security Council measures against North Korea as “necessary”.
A statement published by the official Korean Central News Agency the accused the USA of citing “provocations” by North Korea as a “pretext” for seeking the “opportunity of mounting a pre-emptive nuclear attack”.
The flight of two United States bombers capable of carrying an entire nuclear arsenal over South Korean Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, was intended as a show of force for Pyongyang, which conducted its fifth nuclear test on Friday, prompting a harsh response from South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who accused the North of “maniacal recklessness”.
The statement comes after Wang exchanged views by phone with his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se, Yonhap news agency reported.
South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo this year estimated the North’s plutonium stockpile at about 40 kilogrammes. But the situation on the peninsula, which is divided by the world’s most militarized border, has grown increasingly tense since a crisis erupted after the previous nuclear test in January.
On Monday, South Korea’s Defense Ministry spokesman said the rogue regime is ready to conduct an additional nuclear test at any time.
Friday’s underground blast was recorded as magnitude-5.3 and had the explosive power of at least 10 kilotons, far larger than previous blasts, according to preliminary findings.
The North said the latest test had been of a “nuclear warhead that has been standardised to be able to be mounted on strategic ballistic rockets”.
Pyongyang has pledged to develop a nuclear arsenal in what it says is a bid to protect itself from the U.S. military.
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But nuclear researcher Siegfried Hecker, who has visited North Korea’s nuclear facilities in the past, wrote on the 38 North website that the communist state may have sufficient fissile material to have about 20 bombs by the end of this year and add seven more per year.
