South Korea official: no soft response in case of North Korea nuclear test
(VOVWORLD) - South Korea's national security adviser has said he and his counterparts from the United States and Japan have agreed there will be no soft response if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, Yonhap news agency reported on Friday.
 A North Korean flag flutters at the village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, July 19, 2022. (Photo: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool) |
Kim Sung-han made the comment after trilateral talks with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Akiba Takeo of Japan in Hawaii amid signs the North has completed preparations to conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.
Mr. Kim told reporters that if North Korea conducts its seventh nuclear test, the three countries, together with the international community, will maximise cooperation in a way that (North Korea) realises it was a clearly wrong choice.
In mid-August, North Korea fired two cruise missiles from its west coast after South Korea and the United States resumed their largest field exercises in years. Pyongyang has long denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for war.