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The US, Japan and South Korea will seek to "bolster their deterrence" against Pyonyang should the regime carry out a new atomic test after multiple missile launches at an unprecedented pace.
An "unprecedentedly strong" scale of response would be warranted if North Korea conducted a seventh test of a nuclear weapon, the United States, Japan and South Korea warned. The notice was issued on Wednesday amid concerns by the US and its regional allies that North Korea could be ready to resume nuclear bomb tests for the first time since 2017.
"We agreed that an unprecedentedly strong scale of response would be required if North Korea were to go ahead with a seventh nuclear test," South Korea's First Deputy Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong told a news conference in Tokyo, alongside Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
North Korea tests weapons and fires dozens of missiles, including one that flew over Japan
North Korea has carried out weapons tests at an unprecedented pace this year, firing more than two dozen short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in recent weeks. including a missile that flew over Japan.
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"We urge North Korea to refrain from further provocations," Sherman said, calling them "reckless and deeply destabilizing for the region."
Sherman also said the US will use all its military capabilities, "including nuclear, conventional and missile defense", to protect its allies Japan and South Korea.
North Korea needs to understand that the US commitment to the security of South Korea and Japan is an "iron rebuke", she said.
"It we will use the full range of US defense capabilities to defend our allies, including nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities,” he says.
New North Korean policy could increase arbitrary use of nuclear weapons
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Sherman also reiterated that the US continued to "pursue a serious and sustained dialogue with the DPRK" (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) - the official name of the North Korea.
Cho, during his conversations with Sherman, raised concerns that a new North Korean nuclear weapons policy adopted in September would increase the possibility of its arbitrary use of nuclear weapons. “This is creating serious tension on the Korean peninsula,” Cho said.
In September, the USS Ronald Reagan and the accompanying ships conducted joint military exercises with South Korean forces in response to a North Korean ballistic missile test in what was their first joint military training involving a US aircraft carrier since 2017.
Angered by South Korea's military activities, Pyongyang last week fired hundreds of artillery shells off its coast in what it called a grave warning to its neighbor to the south.
Japan joined South Korea in warning of a possible nuclear test by North Korea in the near future.
Sherman met earlier on Tuesday with Japan's Mori and reaffirmed the strengthening of the Japan-US alliance and other shared goals, including the complete denuclearization of North Korea and their joint response to China's increasingly assertive actions in the region. .
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada recently said that North Korea is believed to have achieved a miniaturization of nuclear warheads while significantly advancing its missile capabilities by diversifying its launch technologies, making intercepts more difficult.
Japan joined South Korea to also warn of possible nuclear test by North Korea in a near future.
