Speaking in Tokyo on Monday during a visit with Japanese officials, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that North Korea would be putting itself in more trouble if it pursued more provocations.
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SEOUL-South Korea’s president said North Korea appeared to be preparing for a fifth nuclear test, a possible act of defiance against worldwide sanctions imposed after a nuclear detonation earlier this year. The South Korean defence ministry says there’s evidence based on recent activity around the DPRK nuclear test site, which the South Korean military is closely monitoring.
North Korea is gearing up for a rare and much-hyped ruling party congress early in May, at which leader Kim Jong-Un is expected to take credit for pushing the country’s nuclear weapons programme to new heights.
FILE – A South Korean army soldier walks by a TV screen showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with superimposed letters that read: “North Korea’s nuclear warhead” during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, March 9, 2016.
Concerns have been mounting over possibilities that the North is continuing additional provocation like nuclear tests.
A South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed that Seoul was on alert for a new nuclear test by North Korea. Tension has been high on the divided Korean peninsula since the January test and a rocket launch a month later that was widely seen as a disguised ballistic missile test.
Beijing’s pledged support for these worldwide sanctions is considered crucial because 90 percent of North Korean trade flows either to or through China.
North Korea conducted a successful launch in February, which led to fresh United Nations sanctions.
Kim’s order came amid rising animosity with South Korea and the United States over their annual military drills that North Korea describes as an invasion rehearsal.
On Friday, North Korea launched a Musudan ballistic missile which was sacked from a mobile launcher.
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Few North Korean officials study American politics like Ri, a longtime diplomat and former ambassador who now runs a Pyongyang think tank that monitors global events and reports back to North Korean leadership.
