“An additional North Korean provocation can take place any time”, Park said, adding that Seoul and Washington were discussing the transfer of further U.S. “strategic assets” to the peninsula.
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Kim said a strong response to the North’s nuclear test is planned, and Hwang said Seoul is to continue cooperation and “close communication” with China and Russia, Yonhap reported.
News of the test was greeted with widespread criticism from around the world, including from China, North Korea’s economic and diplomatic lifeline. “We believe China will play its role as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council”.
“The three countries agreed there needs to be meaningful and new sanctions”, Kim said. If true, it would mark a major development in Pyongyang’s nuclear program because such fusion weapons are potentially more powerful than the plutonium or enriched uranium fission weapons it has done before.
South Korean watch a television broadcast reporting the North Korea’s Hydrogen Bomb Test at the Seoul Railway Station on January 6, 2016 in Seoul, South Korea.
Park defended her decision to resume anti-Kim Jong Un loudspeaker broadcasts along the border against charges that they are ineffective or overly provocative. “It is a challenge that can affect the geopolitical security of the Northeast Asian region as well as the Korean Peninsula”.
Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, iterated similar sentiments after meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on Wednesday.
A nuclear capable U.S. B-52 flew close to North Korea over the weekend in a show of force meant to underline America’s alliance with the South.
President Park also pushed the National Assembly of Korea to pass the Counter Terrorism Prevention Act. Beijing has repeatedly expressed its concern over a THAAD deployment, which China sees as a security threat.
Any sanctions would be useless, according to the South’s leader, unless North Korea actually “feels pain” – Beijing has been accused in the past of failing to ensure Pyongyang feels the squeeze of worldwide restrictions. South Korea “strongly” condemned North Korea’s shock hydrogen bomb test and vowed to take “all necessary measures” to penalise its nuclear-armed neighbour.
The measure requires President Barack Obama to sanction those engaging in transactions with the DPRK related to weapons of mass destruction, arms, luxury goods, money laundering, counterfeiting and human rights abuses.
With Seoul seeking the support of Pyongyang’s old ally China, North Korea’s next move will be monitored closely.
South Korea’s military said on Saturday North Korea appeared to have modified the video and edited it with Scud missile footage from 2014 although an official told Reuters the ejection technology might have improved since the May test. North Korea has denied any involvement in the attack.
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A missile being launched vertically from underwater and igniting in mid air, from off the coast of North Korea, purportedly on December 21, 2015.
