North Korea is ready to conduct a nuclear test “at any time,” South Korea’s Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said Thursday, reiterating Seoul’s policy focus on bolstering deterrence against Pyongyang’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.
Lee made the remarks in a briefing to the National Assembly’s defense committee, amid tensions heightened by the North’s provocative acts, such as its recent unveiling of the Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warhead and the test of an underwater nuclear attack drone, according to South Korea’s News Agency (Yonhap).
In a report to the committee, his ministry said the North’s nuclear test, if pressed ahead, might be designed for “final technological verification” needed for the mass production and operational deployment of nuclear warheads.
It also said the South and the United States have crafted joint military measures to respond to a possible North Korean nuclear test with an aim to demonstrate their alliance’s “strong” will.
The measures include the allies’ combined show of force, involving America’s strategic military assets. (QNA)
Source: Qatar News Agency
