US readies response to potential NKorea nuclear test as tensions escalate

WASHINGTON

The US has prepared a multi-pronged response to any future North Korean nuclear test that will include diplomatic efforts at the UN and other unspecified measures, President Joe Biden's special envoy said Tuesday.

Sung Kim declined to detail specific actions the US is ready to take other than its engagement at the UN but said the response "will be in very close cooperation and communication with our allies and partners," particularly South Korea and Japan.

"I do think it will have different aspects to it. It will not be just a singular response," Kim told reporters on a conference call. "A nuclear test is unacceptable to us and the international community."

While Kim emphasized that the Biden administration hopes Pyongyang does not proceed with further nuclear tests, it does believe the North is prepared to carry one out at "any time."

The comments come after Wendy Sherman, the State Department's number two, warned North Korea of a "swift and forceful" response if it proceeds with its seventh nuclear test on record.

Sherman is in Seoul after North Korea carried out its single largest ballistic missile test to date and amid mounting fears that it will soon carry out a nuclear test.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said Monday the agency detected indications that North Korea is preparing for a nuclear test at its Punggye-ri site.

China and Russia vetoed on May 27 new UN Security Council sanctions that would have been imposed on the North in retaliation for its continued ballistic missile tests, which it conducts in violation of previous council resolutions.

Including the eight ballistic missile launches carried out Sunday alone, North Korea has launched 31 missiles since January, the highest sum it has ever launched in a single year "and it is only June," said Kim.

He continued to emphasize the US stands ready for talks with the North without preconditions, "however, to date, the DPRK has not responded and continues to show no indication it is interested in engaging," said Kim, referring to North Korea by its formal acronym.

"Instead, we have seen a marked increase in the scope and scale of their ballistic missile tests, brazenly flaunting the international rules-based order, and unnecessarily increasingly regional tensions," he said. "The United States harbors no hostile intent toward the DPRK. We are prepared to meet without preconditions and we call them the DPRK to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy."