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Playing hardball: North Korea willing to test nukes, says website
SEOUL — North Korea is ratcheting up its rhetoric against the U.S. and allied nations, warning on a propaganda website Thursday of its clear “intentions” to carry out nuclear testing.
The statement appeared on a website run by North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, according to Radiopress, a media-monitoring agency based in Japan. The article also mentioned the government is willing to launch a “satellite” — considered to be a euphemism for a long-range missile.
The comments follow a series of provocative remarks this week by the Communist regime. After North Korea alluded Monday to plans for launching an intercontinental missile, a nuclear research chief declared Tuesday that the country is ready to respond with “nuclear thunder” if the U.S. and others maintain hostile policies. The latest saber-rattling appears aimed at getting the Americans to the bargaining table. Pyongyang maintains that it has every right to strengthen nuclear deterrence capabilities.
A CPRF spokesperson on Thursday brought up South Korea’s Oct. 16 bilateral summit with the U.S., saying that “if [Seoul] bends to U.S. pressure and acts indecisively, then agreements between the north and south will become a dead letter.” The two countries reached an accord Aug. 25 ending an armed standoff and arranging reunions for families separated by the north-south split.
South Korea’s defense ministry said Thursday that the eighth Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue will be held in Seoul over two days ending Sept. 24. The two sides will discuss issues including the North’s missiles and nuclear ambitions.
Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, met Wednesday with Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, the Yonhap News Agency reported. Pyongyang will risk additional United Nations sanctions and put itself in “deeper isolation” should it go ahead with a missile launch, Hwang told a news conference.
Playing hardball: North Korea willing to test nukes, says website
