North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said, according to statements reported by state media, on Thursday, that North Korea will not hesitate to respond with nuclear weapons if it itself is provoked in this way.
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Washington, Seoul and Tokyo immediately responded in a joint statement by urging Pyongyang to “stop making new provocations and accept their invitation to engage in substantive dialogue without preconditions.”
During a meeting between US and South Korean officials last weekend, Washington reaffirmed its “firm commitment” to Seoul by relying on its deterrent power, including nuclear power.
Washington warned at the time that “any nuclear attack” by Pyongyang on the United States or its allies would lead to “the end of the North Korean regime.”
The US nuclear attack submarine, USS Missouri, also arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Sunday.
Pyongyang responded by conducting a test launch the next day of its Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, the most powerful in its arsenal and possibly capable of reaching the entire US mainland, a clear warning to Washington.
On Tuesday, Washington, Seoul and Tokyo activated a system to exchange real-time data on North Korean missile launches, and military forces from the three allied countries carried out joint exercises on Wednesday, including American bombers.
In a separate statement, Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister, denounced the UN Security Council’s decision to discuss North Korea’s recent launch of a Hwasong-18 missile, saying the test was a manifestation of Pyongyang’s inherent right to self-defense. .
“The repeated appearance of US nuclear weapons” in South Korea “clearly targets the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and constitutes the root cause of the escalation of the regional situation,” Kim Yo Jong said again, using North Korea’s official name.
