A few days after sending a warning to China, the United States today warned North Korea of a forceful response if NK carried out nuclear tests.
Earlier, the US President Biden warned China of an action in case of Chinese attack on Taiwan.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has said there would be a “forceful” response from the United States, South Korea and the world if North Korea conducted a nuclear test.
“Any nuclear test would be in complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions and there would be a swift and forceful response to such a test,” Sherman told reporters on Tuesday after talks with her South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun-dong, in Seoul.
Sherman added: “The entire world will respond in a strong and clear manner. We are prepared.”
There are growing concerns that North Korea, which has conducted an unprecedented number of missile launches this year, will soon test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017.
On Monday, South Korea and US forces fired eight surface-to-surface missiles off South Korea’s east coast a day after Pyongyang unleashed a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that North Korean moves to expand key facilities at its main nuclear site at Yongbyon continue to advance.
“A roof has been installed on the annex to the reported Centrifuge Enrichment Facility, so the annex is now externally complete. Near the light water reactor (LWR), we have observed that the new building that had been under construction since April 2021 has been completed, and construction has started on two adjacent buildings,” IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi said in his quarterly statement to the Board on Monday.
