By Jun Ji-hye
North Korea is putting the final touches on its nuclear and missile programs and will complete its nuclear armament soon, according to South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
"It is true that North Korea is quickly approaching the completion of its nuclear armament," Kang said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Brussels Saturday.The top diplomat also said the Kim Jong-un regime is capable of conducting an additional nuclear test at any time without notice.
She is visiting European countries to seek international cooperation on the North Korean issue.
Kang said some of the North's underground tunnels appeared to have collapsed following its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3, during which it detonated what it claimed to be a hydrogen bomb to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
But she said the North has additional tunnels, saying, "It is prepared to carry out additional provocations at any time."
The North's ICBM, believed to have a range of more than 10,000 kilometers, is capable in theory of striking targets on the U.S. mainland.
Kang's comments came two days after Mike Pompeo, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, claimed in a forum in Washington that Pyongyang could be "months" away from perfecting the ability to strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.
The North conducted ICBM tests twice in July.
Kang noted that European countries are supporting the Moon Jae-in government's approach to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through a two-track policy of seeking dialogue and sanctions.
"It is necessary to impose pressure and sanctions against North Korea's repeated provocations, but those measures should be aimed at bringing the North to the negotiation table and resolving the issue peacefully," she said.
Kang said the U.S. has also shared the need to solve the North Korean problem peacefully through negotiation.
North Korea is putting the final touches on its nuclear and missile programs and will complete its nuclear armament soon, according to South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
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| Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha |
She is visiting European countries to seek international cooperation on the North Korean issue.
Kang said some of the North's underground tunnels appeared to have collapsed following its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3, during which it detonated what it claimed to be a hydrogen bomb to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
But she said the North has additional tunnels, saying, "It is prepared to carry out additional provocations at any time."
The North's ICBM, believed to have a range of more than 10,000 kilometers, is capable in theory of striking targets on the U.S. mainland.
Kang's comments came two days after Mike Pompeo, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, claimed in a forum in Washington that Pyongyang could be "months" away from perfecting the ability to strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.
The North conducted ICBM tests twice in July.
Kang noted that European countries are supporting the Moon Jae-in government's approach to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through a two-track policy of seeking dialogue and sanctions.
"It is necessary to impose pressure and sanctions against North Korea's repeated provocations, but those measures should be aimed at bringing the North to the negotiation table and resolving the issue peacefully," she said.
Kang said the U.S. has also shared the need to solve the North Korean problem peacefully through negotiation.
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