(CNN) — South Korea’s National Defense Minister Lee Jong Sup said Thursday that “any nuclear attack” by North Korea would “result in the end” of Kim Jong Un’s regime because of North Korea’s “overwhelming and decisive response.” of the Alliance.
At a joint press conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon, Lee also said the United States has committed to increasing the “frequency and intensity of strategic asset deployment” in the region in response to any provocation by North Korea. North. This would increase “US strategic assets to the equivalent of a permanent deployment.”
In addition, Lee stated that North Korea is “ready to conduct” a nuclear test, but “when it will conduct it” remains a mystery.
“North Korea will have to think about its political purpose, and estimating when exactly it will conduct a nuclear test is also a difficulty for us,” he added.
North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles
Meanwhile, on Thursday night, North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The missiles were launched from the Koksan area in northern Hwanghae province between 21:35 and 21:49 local time on Thursday.
“Our military has increased surveillance and control, and maintains a fully prepared posture while working closely with the US,” the JCS said.
The Security Council will meet this Friday to discuss North Korea’s missile launches.
The United States Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, announced on Thursday that the United Nations (UN) Security Council will meet this Friday to discuss the recent missile launches by North Korea.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong Sup speaks during a joint press conference with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on November 3, 2022 (Credit: Mandel NGAN/AFP)
According to a spokesman for the US mission to the UN, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway were the countries that called the open meeting.
In an interview with MSNBC, Thomas-Greenfield condemned North Korea’s actions, noting that they “launched more than 50 missiles in 2022 alone and are in violation of multiple Security Council resolutions,” urging Beijing to join in the condemnation. international and efforts to contain Pyongyang.
“These are resolutions … that we, the Chinese and others are working together to publish books against the DPRK,” he said, using an acronym for North Korea’s official name: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“But more recently, China has not voted with us to condemn these actions, nor has it cooperated in adding new sanctions. We really need to step up our efforts to get the message across to the DPRK that what they are doing is unacceptable,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
“Tomorrow we will have a meeting of the Security Council to bring this to the full council,” he said, adding that the United States was “working closely” with the Japanese and South Koreans “to make sure that the DPRK does not think this is something that is acceptable.”