Politics

Yoon reiterates Pyongyang ready to test nuclear weapon any time

Seoul, 22 (EFE).- North Korea is prepared to carry out a new nuclear weapon test at any time, South Korea’s president reiterated Friday.

When asked by a reporter about Washington’s recent assessment that the test could take place before the end of the month, Yoon Suk-yeol said Pyongyang has been ready to execute it for a long time.

“We believe that not only at the end of this month, but ever since my inauguration, it’s fully ready and able to do it whenever it decides,” Yoon said, according to Yonhap news agency.

Yoon’s statement comes after National Intelligence Service director Kim Kyou-hyun made a surprise visit to Washington this week, which led to speculation he was to meet with United States intelligence officials.

Seoul and Washington believe that Pyongyang has long been prepared to carry out its first nuclear test since 2017 and that its execution depends exclusively on an order from leader Kim Jong-un. The two countries regularly warn of an imminent test.

North Korea, which cut itself off from the outside world due to the pandemic since 2020, has ignored calls from South Korea and the US to resume stalled denuclearization talks.

Last year it approved a weapons modernization plan that is behind the record number of weapons tests it has carried out this year (more than 20) and preparations, captured by satellite imagery since February, for a nuclear test, which would be the seventh of the country and the first since 2017. EFE

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