US warns North Korea of a ‘forceful’ response if the nuclear weapons tests are conducted

Asia-Pacific, News, US June 14, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that North Korea would face a ‘forceful’ response from the U.S. and South Korea if it tries to conduct nuclear weapons tests.

“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 during a post-meeting joint press conference after holding talks with her South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun-dong, in Seoul. She further added that “The entire world will respond in a strong and clear manner. We are prepared.”

North Korea’s alarmingly increasing weapons and missile testing has become a major concern for the United States and its allies. North Korea has conducted an unprecedented number of missile launches this year and is expected to conduct its first nuclear weapons test since 2017.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that North Korea is advancing to expand key facilities at its main nuclear site at Yongbyon. The IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi said in his quarterly statement that, “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.”

Grossi also noted that satellite imagery from the Punggye-ri nuclear test site indicates that the site is being rebuilt possibly in preparation for an upcoming nuclear test. The nuclear test site was dismantled in 2018 following a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

*^{A satellite image from April shows new excavation activity at the Yongbyon nuclear complex in North Korea. (Image Credit: Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies/via Reuters)}*

“The conduct of a nuclear test would contravene UN Security Council resolutions and would be a cause for serious concern,” Grossi said.

During her visit to Seoul, U.S. Deputy Secretary Sherman reiterated that the United States administration remained open to talks. The discussions on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula have stalled after the collapse of the high-profile summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam in 2019.

“The United States harbors no hostile intent towards the DPRK. We continue to urge Pyongyang to cease its destabilizing and provocative activities and choose the path of diplomacy,” Sherman said, referring to North Korea by its formal name.

In a response to North Korea’s increasing weapons tests and a possible nuclear weapons test in the near future, the U.S. and South Korea fired eight missiles on June 5, after the two countries jointly conducted large-scale naval exercises.