On Friday, North Korea put the global community on edge by completing its fifth and largest nuclear test.
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Pyongyang confirmed on Friday it had conducted a fifth, “higher level” nuclear explosion which officials hope will allow them to build stronger, smaller and lighter nuclear weapons.
The test was thought to have been conducted at the Punggye-ri site, which lies deep under mountains in the northeast of the country.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified government official earlier on Monday saying Pyongyang had completed preparations for another nuclear test in its previously unused third tunnel at the Punggye-ri site in the north-east.
Reports of another nuclear test being conducted soon after were rife, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
South Korea has a plan to destroy the North Korean capital of Pyongyang should the north mount a nuclear attack, a military official in Seoul said Sunday.
A U.S. special envoy met with Japanese officials on Sunday and said afterwards the United States may add to existing sanctions against North Korea, Reuters reported.
The South’s military has said it would launch a retaliatory strike at Pyongyang’s military leadership if it deemed the country was under nuclear threat.
One possibility is that China could try to broker a deal to freeze North Korea’s development of new missiles and warheads as part of the US and South Korea suspending joint military exercises, Tong said.
His trip comes amid a fresh push by the United States and South Korea for more sanctions following the nuclear test.
The North Korean government responded Sunday, calling the threats of “meaningless sanctions.highly laughable”.
However Kim Jong-Un’s regime dismissed the moves as “laughable” and promised it would continue to strengthen its nuclear power “in quality and quantity”.
Following the tests, the United States said it was considering its own sanctions besides UN Security Council, Japan and South Korea to impose on the recluse state.
The latest test showed North Korea’s nuclear capability was expanding fast and that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, was unwilling to alter course, South Korea said on Saturday.
North Korea shrugged off the threat of additional sanctions in typical fashion.
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North Korea has been hit by five sets of United Nations sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006, but has insisted it will continue its testing program, come what may. The U.S. military said some aircraft will be deployed Tuesday but declined to disclose what type or how many planes.
