Following the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by North Korea this week, the US would not be surprised if the country conducted another nuclear test.
“I have been concerned for some time that North Korea would conduct what would be its seventh nuclear test going back multiple administrations. And I remain concerned about that,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CBS talk show “Face the Nation” in an interview.
“I don’t see any immediate indications that that’s going to happen,” he added.
“But it would not come as a surprise if North Korea moved forward with another nuclear test with respect to its intercontinental ballistic missile capability.”
Sullivan stated that Pyongyang had begun testing its nuclear capacity several years ago and “they have continued to test it.”
Leader of the secretive state of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, reportedly oversaw Thursday’s test launch of the country’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile.
According to the official Korean Central News Agency, the solid-fuel Hwasong-18 missile, which had apparently only been test-fired once before, reached an altitude of 6,648 kilometres before crashing into the East Sea, often known as the Sea of Japan.
The North and South Koreans’ relationship is at an all-time low. Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, has asked for increased weapon manufacturing, including tactical nuclear weapons, after declaring his country a “irreversible” nuclear state last year.
The launch on Wednesday was fiercely condemned by the United Nations, the United States, and its allies, including France, because it violated repeated UN Security Council resolutions.
