The United States flew two B-1 bombers over South Korea yesterday in a show of force against North Korea’s latest and most powerful nuclear test last week, while the Obama administration pushes to impose new sanctions on the defiant state.
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“This is not directed at Japan”.
The United States is said to have removed all its tactical nuclear weapons from its bases in South Korea after South Korean President Roh Tae-woo issued a declaration in 1991 seeking to make the Korean Peninsula a nuclear-free zone.
Pyongyang claimed Friday’s test showed it had a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic missiles, a possibility that increases fears for U.S. allies in the region and also poses a threat to U.S. bases in South Korea, Japan and Guam.
Soldiers applaud during a celebration rally attended by service members and civilians following the country’s successful test of a nuclear warhead on September 9, in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on September 13, 2016.
“North Korea continues to blatantly violate its global obligations, threatening the region through an accelerating program of nuclear tests and unprecedented ballistic missile launches that no nation should tolerate”.
The U.S. flew a B-52 long-range bomber over South Korea in a similar show of force after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January.
Their intention was “to secure the strongest possible resolution that includes new sanctions as quickly as possible”, Sung Kim said, declining to elaborate on how China, the North’s main ally on the Security Council, would respond.
Pyongyang is now demanding to be recognised as a “legitimate nuclear weapons state”, insisting that its missile and nuclear tests are necessary for self-defence against US-led hostile forces.
But the presence of the THAAD system has drawn criticism, particularly from China, which tends to view any increase in US military presence in Asia as an attempt to contain it and reduce its influence in the region.
The talks with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saw him reportedly admit that Moscow “shares concerns with the global community” over last Friday’s nuclear test and would “take active part in discussions to adopt a new resolution”.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said public anger was “exploding like a volcano” following the flight by the American B-1B bombers yesterday.
As such, the meeting between Ri and Inoki came at a particularly sensitive time. “If North Korea is ready to talk to us sincerely, I think we can work with that within the six party process”, Kim said.
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However, in 2014, Kim’s regime agreed to reopen the investigation. Yoshihide Suga, a top aide to the Japanese prime minister, was critical of the visit. said in “We ask all Japanese people to refrain from traveling to North Korea as an anti-North Korean measure, and we had notified this lawmaker Inoki of this before his visit”, Suga said Tuesday.
