The United States, Japan, and South Korea have warned if North Korea continued testing nuclear weapons, it will use full military capabilities, including nuclear, to safeguard the regional allies.
The warning was issued on Wednesday amid Washington and its allies’ concerns that Pyongyang could be thinking of resuming nuclear bomb testing for the first time in five years.
“We agreed that an unparalleled scale of response would be necessary if North Korea pushes ahead with a seventh nuclear test,” South Korean first vice foreign minister Cho Hyun-dong said while addressing a joint press conference in Tokyo, alongside Japan’s vice foreign minister Takeo Mori and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
Pyongyang carried out weapon tests in 2022 at an unprecedented pace, testing over two dozen short and medium-range ballistic missiles in recent weeks. Earlier in October, a North Korean test missile over-flew Japan, raising serious concerns in Japanese and South Korea leadership.
Calling North Korea’s recent missile tests “reckless” and extremely destabilizing for the region, Shermanurged North Korea to refrain from further provocations.
Sherman warned that Washington will use its full military capabilities, “including nuclear, conventional and missile defense”, to safeguard its regional allies.
North Korea needs to understand that the US commitment to the security of South Korea and Japan is “iron clad”, she maintained.
“And we will use the full range of US defense capabilities to defend our allies, including nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities,” she said.
Earlier, the US Deputy Secretary of State met with Japan’s vice foreign minister Mori on Tuesday and reaffirmed the further strengthening of the Japan-US ties and other common goals, including the complete denuclearization of North Korea and their joint response to China’s increasingly assertive actions in the region.