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| North Korean president Kim Jong Un |
International Military - The United States has threatened to provide a strong and swift response if North Korea tests its nuclear weapons. Pyongyang's atomic weapons test, if actually carried out, would be the first since 2017.
Washington's threat was made by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. He said the response was not only from America, but also from South Korea and the world. "Any nuclear test would be in complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions and there would be a swift and vigorous response to such a test," Sherman told reporters on Tuesday after talks with his South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun-dong, in Seoul.
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"The whole world will respond in a strong and clear way. We are ready.". There is growing concern that Kim Jong-un's North Korea, which has carried out an unprecedented number of missile launches this year, may soon test nuclear weapons for the first time since 2017.
On Monday, South Korean and US forces fired eight surface-to-surface missiles off South Korea's east coast a day after Pyongyang test-fired eight short-range ballistic missiles.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said North Korea's move to expand a major facility at its main nuclear site at Yongbyon was progressing. “A roof has been installed in the annex to the reported Centrifugal Enrichment Facility, so the attachment is now externally completed.
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Near the light water reactor (LWR), we have observed that a new building that has been under construction since April 2021 has been completed, and construction has begun on two adjacent buildings," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in his quarterly statement to the UN Security Council on Monday. .
He also noted that at Punggye-ri, the site of North Korea's nuclear test, there were indications that a section known as "adits" had reopened, possibly in preparation for a nuclear test.
The site was dismantled in 2018 following a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. "Conducting a nuclear test would be against UN Security Council resolutions and would be of serious concern," Grossi said. During his visit to Seoul, Sherman reiterated that the US government remains open to talks.