The US and South Korea held discussions over ways they would respond to possible nuclear attacks by North Korea, which has been steadily building up its capability to deliver a credible atomic strike against the two.
(Bloomberg) — The US and South Korea held discussions over ways they would respond to possible nuclear attacks by North Korea, which has been steadily building up its capability to deliver a credible atomic strike against the two.
The so-called table-top exercise held in Washington focused on hypothetical scenarios of North Korea’s use of nuclear weapons, the Pentagon said in a statement late Thursday. They were the first of their sort since South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office about a year ago and bolstered joint military exercises with the US, a move that angered Pyongyang and led it to step up its provocations.
“Both sides discussed various options to demonstrate the Alliance’s strong response capabilities and resolve to respond appropriately to any DPRK nuclear use,” the Defense Department said, referring to North Korea by its formal name.
The US reiterated that any nuclear attack by North Korea against the US or its allies would “result in the end” of Kim’s regime. The South Korean delegation also visited a US nuclear submarine facility in Georgia to see military assets the US could use against North Korea, which are aimed at deterring Pyongyang from launching a strike.
North Korea has ratcheted up tensions in the past week by test-firing an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to deliver a nuclear warhead to the US mainland, and firing two short-range missiles a few days later. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the leader, threatened to turn the Pacific into a “firing range,” in a hint the state could start testing whether its warhead designs can withstand the heat of reentering the atmosphere.
North Korea’s official media said Friday the state tested four, long-range cruise missiles a day earlier that flew in figure-8 patterns for a distance of about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) — a range that could hit almost all of Japan.
Cruise missiles are designed to fly low to the ground and avoid radar. They move far slower than ballistic missiles and there are no United Nations resolutions that ban Pyongyang from testing them.
“The drill clearly demonstrated once again the war posture of the DPRK nuclear combat force bolstering up in every way its deadly nuclear counterattack capability against the hostile forces,” its Korean Central News Agency said.
The launch of the cruise missiles came shortly after the US, Japan and South Korea held a joint naval missile defense exercise in international waters.
North Korea for decades has called the joint exercises a prelude to an invasion and nuclear war and state media Friday carried a fresh threat from one of its top diplomats, who urged the US halt the exercises.
“If the US continues its hostile and provocative practices against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea despite our repeated protests and warnings, it could be regarded as a declaration of war against the DPRK,” it quoted Kwon Jong Gun, director general of the Department of US Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, as saying.
Last year, Kim’s regime test fired more than 70 ballistic missiles, the most in his decade in power and in defiance of UN resolutions that prohibit such launches. The North Korean leader has been modernizing his inventory of missiles over the past several years to make them easier to hide, quicker to deploy and more difficult to shoot down.
He also is poised to conduct his first test of a nuclear bomb since 2017. The US, Japan and South Korea has pledged a stern coordinated response if North Korea goes ahead the with blast.
–With assistance from Shinhye Kang.
(Updates with comment from North Korean diplomat.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.