Biden says US prepared for any acts by Pyongyang

Seoul, May 22 (EFE).- The President of the United States Joe Biden on Sunday said that his country and South Korea were prepared for “anything that South Korea does,” amid indications that Pyongyang might be preparing for a fresh nuclear test or test-launching ballistic missiles soon.

Biden was answering questions during an event in Seoul on Sunday over the possibility of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s regime carrying out a weapons test during the US president’s ongoing South Korea visit.

“I am not concerned, if that is the question,” Biden said during his media appearance at Seoul’s Hotel Grand Hyatt, where he met Hyundai Motor group chairman Ching Eui-sun to discuss the South Korean carmaker’s fresh investment plans in the US.

On Saturday, Biden had pledged to strengthen Washington and Seoul’s deterrence capacity in the Korean peninsula and said that a summit with Kim could be possible if he showed sincerity over resuming the disarmament dialog.

During Biden’s meeting with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol, the two leaders issued a joint statement that reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to “deploy strategic US military assets” in the Korean peninsula “in a timely and coordinated manner as necessary.”

Despite repeated attempts by the US and regional powers to bring North Korea back to a denuclearization dialog without preconditions, Pyongyang has not displayed any interest in resuming the talks over the past two years.

Moreover, after approving a weapons modernization program last year, the regime has carried out a record number of missile tests, while South Korean and US intelligence agencies have warned that Pyongyang is ready to carry out its first nuclear test since 2017.

Seoul and Washington have also said over the past few days that the imminent launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by the North was on the cards during Biden’s visit to the South, which kicked off on Friday and is set to last until Sunday, when he heads to Japan. EFE

co-ahg/ia