The United States and South Korea warned North Korea on Monday that if it carries out a new nuclear test there will be a “rapid” response, with more sanctions and even a review of the US “military position”.
“We remain concerned about the prospect of a seventh nuclear test”, but the first since 2017 , declared the head of US diplomacy Antony Blinken before the press in Washington, reiterating that Pyongyang had made “preparations” in this regard.
Along with him, his South Korean counterpart Park Jin went further, assuring that the North “has completed preparations.” “I think the only thing missing is a political decision” to take action, he said.
Washington has estimated since last month that Pyongyang is preparing to break its five-year moratorium on nuclear tests.
The international community I would consider it the umpteenth “provocation” that violates the resolutions of the UN Security Council. A new test would put the United States in a delicate situation, which has not stopped reaching out to the North Koreans to resume dialogue for a “denuclearization”.
That strategy of President Joe Biden until now it has not produced results, as its own government acknowledges. And it is that so far this year there have been North Korean ballistic missile launches, including intercontinental ones.
“We are going to continue trying to contact North Korea, we are in favor of seeking a rapprochement diplomat”, insisted Blinken, confirming his offer of dialogue “without preconditions”.
The heads of diplomacy of the two allied countries also reiterated their offers of help in the face of the rebound of COVID-14 suffered by the North.
“International sanctions”
“Unfortunately, to this day, what we see from North Korea has been a lack of response or a response in the form of increased missile tests,” lamented the US secretary of state, urging him to “refrain from any other destabilizing activity”.
Blinken warned that the Americans would not sit idly by.
“We are in very close contact with our allies and close partners, starting with the Republic of Korea, Japan and others, in order to respond quickly”, he added.
This response would materialize in new “international sanctions” and greater “isolation”, according to the South Korean minister, if possible through another UN Security Council resolution, an option that Russia and China have so far opposed with their right to veto.
He discussed with his American counterpart the “concrete ways to correct in the application of existing sanctions”, to prevent them from being circumvented.
Blinken assured that he would continue to “keep up the pressure”, focusing in particular on those who help Pyongyang evade punitive measures.
But beyond economic isolation, “we prepare for all scenarios (…) and we are prepared to adjust strengthen our military position in the short and long term, as much as necessary,” he said.
Seoul and Washington have also spoken out in favor of “extended deterrence,” by which the United States undertakes to militarily dissuade the North from attacking the South.
Park Jin asked China, which remains North Korea’s main supporter although it opposes its nuclear program, to “play a very positive role in convincing” the leader North Korean Kim Jong Un that he “makes the right decision”.