“South Korea and the USA are in close consultation about additional deployment of other strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula”, Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told a regular press briefing in Seoul.
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On Sunday, a B-52 Stratofortress flanked by South Korean and U.S. fighter jets flew over Osan Air Base, 70 kilometers south of the inter- Korean border.
North Korea’s leader has taken a victory tour to celebrate the country’s widely disputed claim of a hydrogen bomb test, seeking to rally pride in an explosion viewed with outrage by much of the world and boost his domestic political goals.
Seoul also said on Monday that it would restrict access to the jointly-run Kaesong industrial complex just north of the heavily militarised inter-Korean border to the “minimum necessary level” starting from Tuesday.
“This move follows last Wednesday’s nuclear test by the north, which North Korea claims was a hydrogen bomb”, Elise says.
In China’s strict-controlled online media, public resentment against North Korea’s fourth nuclear test is growing with some social media users criticizing their government for not taking a tougher response to the North’s test.
South Korea’s president Park Geun-hye plans to make a speech to the nation on Wednesday in which she is expected to express strong will to respond to North Korea’s nuclear test, a presidential official said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un salutes during a visit to the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces on the occasion of the new year, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 10, 2016.
“China is willing to work with all parties to maintain communication to get the DPRK nuclear issue back to the negotiation table to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula”, Hong said.
The test has been widely condemned and the UN Security Council is discussing a new resolution that would tighten sanctions already imposed on the North after its three previous nuclear tests and banned missile launches.
A South Koran defense ministry spokesman declined to give details.
The chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday that North Korea was likely to carry out further sudden provocations, a South Korean Defence Ministry official said.
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During the troop inspection with Scaparrotti, South Korean General Lee Sun Jin cautioned that Pyongyang could feel itself pushed into provocative actions.
