South Korea is in talks with the US to deploy US strategic weapons on the Korean peninsula, a South Korean military official said yesterday, a day after North Korea said it successfully tested a hydrogen nuclear device.
South Korea also said that it would resume propaganda broadcasts by loudspeaker into North Korea from today in response to its fourth nuclear test.
The US and weapons experts voiced doubts the device North Korea tested on Wednesday was a hydrogen bomb, but calls mounted for more sanctions against it for its rogue nuclear program.
Photo: EPA
The underground explosion angered China, which was not given prior notice although it is North Korea’s main ally, pointing to a strain in their ties.
The test also alarmed Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed with US President Barack Obama in a telephone call that a firm global response was needed, the White House said.
Obama also spoke to South Korean President Park Geun-hye to discuss options.
A South Korean military official said the two nations had discussed the deployment of US strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula, but declined to give further details.
South Korea said it was not considering a nuclear deterrent of its own, despite calls from ruling party leaders. The US is highly unlikely to restore the tactical nuclear missiles it removed from South Korea in 1991, experts said.
The test was a “grave violation” of an August agreement by the two Koreas to ease tension and improve ties, South Korean national security official Cho Tae-yong, said in a statement.
“Our military is at a state of full readiness, and if North Korea wages provocation, there will be firm punishment,” Cho said.
The South raised its military alert to the highest level in areas along the border near its propaganda loudspeakers, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported late yesterday.
The US is limited in its military response for fear of provoking an unpredictable regime in Pyongyang, said Anthony Cordesman, a defense policy expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
“Any escalation in this region, any over-reaction can easily lead to not only a conflict between South and North Korea, but drag China and the United States and Japan into a confrontation,” he said.
The US Department of State confirmed North Korea had conducted a nuclear test, but the Obama administration disputed the hydrogen bomb claim.
“The initial analysis is not consistent with the claim the regime has made of a successful hydrogen bomb test,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
The UN Security Council has said that it would work immediately on significant new measures against North Korea. Diplomats said that could mean an expansion of sanctions, although major powers might baulk at an all-out economic offensive.
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