Officials from the United States and its Asian allies Japan and South Korea suspect North Korea is preparing for a nuclear test, and vice foreign ministers from the three countries said Wednesday their joint response would be “decisive.”
Cho Hyundong, South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister, said the trio is bolstering their defense cooperation to deter the growing possibility of North Korea’s use of nuclear weapons since the adoption in September of legislation spelling out scenarios where it would use nukes, including preemptively.
North Korea’s new nuclear policy is “creating a serious tension on the Korean Peninsula,” Cho told a joint news conference after talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori.
“South Korea and the U.S. will step up their extended deterrence by utilizing all the elements of the national power and show an overwhelming, decisive response to any use of a nuclear weapon by North Korea,” Cho said.
