A U.S. intelligence official said North Korea is the only country in the world that threatens others with a nuclear attack, and that Pyongyang shows no signs of backing off its nuclear program.
Advertisement
In fact, as Elise reported last week, global censure and sanctions “only seem to have strengthened” Kim’s resolve.
The top American and South Korean envoys on North Korea expressed their resolve during a news conference in Seoul, the South’s capital, speaking shortly after two nuclear-capable supersonic bombers from the US Air Force base in Guam streaked over the South in a show of force. The divided peninsula remains technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty. This undermines any future warnings US forces might send. Washington also stations more than 28,000 troops in the South, and tens of thousands more in Japan.
Two US B-1 bombers have flown over South Korea.
The Korean Central News Agency report also warned that North Korea’s army has “all means for military counteraction to beat back any aggression and provocation at a single blow”.
North Korea claims the deployment of two USA supersonic bombers over the peninsula was a bluff, warning that such actions were escalating tensions “to the point of explosion”. Seoul is under pressure to rethink its hardline policy against Pyongyang, which critics say has failed to curb the regime’s nuclear ambitions.
The latest blast, which Pyongyang claimed was a “warhead”, was the most powerful yet – experts estimate it at a force of at least 10 kilotons of TNT – and it came only eight months after the previous detonation.
The flight was a display of superior US military might, proving Washington can destroy a strategic target whenever it wants – a threat to Pyongyang and a reassurance to Tokyo and Seoul. It can carry 61 tons of weaponry, including 24 nuclear bombs, 24 joint direct attack munitions (JDAM), 84 conventional bombs, 24 air-to-surface missiles, and 8 cruise missiles.
He said more troubling was that the recent test successes might give Pyongyang a false sense of confidence.
Six-nation diplomatic talks aimed at ridding the North of its bombs have been stalled since the last round of meetings in late 2008.
“It’s a question of North Korean intentions and commitment”.
Early on September 9, North Korea conducted its second – and likely – strongest nuclear test this year (the fifth ever), coming at the heels of the conclusion of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China.
During the rally, a senior government official hailed the reclusive country’s successful nuclear test.
However, the isolated state’s leader Kim Jong Un was not seen in the video and KRT did not specify the date of celebration.
Advertisement
“The United States and [South Korea] are taking action every day to strengthen our alliance and respond to North Korea’s continued aggressive behavior”, General Vincent Brooks, commander of US Forces Korea, said in a statement.
