TOKYO
\nAn \u201cunparalleled\u201d scale of response would be warranted if North Korea conducts a seventh test of a nuclear weapons, the United States, Japan and South Korea have warned.
\nThe warning was issued on Wednesday amid concerns by the US and its regional allies that North Korea could be poised to resume nuclear bomb testing for the first time since 2017.
\n\u201cWe agreed that an unparalleled scale of response would be necessary if North Korea pushes ahead with a seventh nuclear test,\u201d South Korean first vice foreign minister Cho Hyun-dong told a news conference in Tokyo.
\nCho made his comments alongside Japan\u2019s vice foreign minister Takeo Mori and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
\nNorth Korea has been carrying out weapons test at an unprecedented pace this year, firing more than two dozen short and medium-range ballistic missiles in recent weeks, including a missile that over-flew Japan.
\n\u201cWe urge (North Korea) to refrain from further provocations,\u201d Sherman said, calling the North\u2019s actions \u201creckless\u201d and deeply destabilising for the region.
\nSherman also said that the US will use its full military capabilities, \u201cincluding nuclear, conventional and missile defence\u201d, to protect its allies Japan and South Korea.
\nNorth Korea needs to understand that the US commitment to the security of South Korea and Japan is \u201ciron clad\u201d, she said.
\n\u201cAnd we will use the full range of US defence capabilities to defend our allies, including nuclear, conventional and missile defence capabilities,\u201d she said.
\nUS State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Sherman also reiterated that the US was continuing to \u201cseek serious and sustained dialogue with the DPRK\u201d (Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea) \u2013 the official name for North Korea.
\nCho, during his talks with Sherman, raised concern that a new North Korean nuclear weapons policy adopted in September increases the possibility of its arbitrary use of nuclear weapons.
\n\u201cThis is creating serious tension on the Korean peninsula,\u201d Cho said.
\nIn September, the USS Ronald Reagan and accompanying ships conducted joint military exercises with South Korean forces in response to a North Korean ballistic missile test in what their first joint military training was involving a US aircraft carrier since 2017.
\nAngered by South Korea\u2019s military activities, Pyongyang last week fired hundreds of artillery shells off its coasts in what it called a grave warning to its neighbour to the south.
\nSherman met earlier on Tuesday with Japan\u2019s Mori and reaffirmed the further strengthening of the Japan-US alliance and other shared goals, including the complete denuclearisation of North Korea and their joint response to China\u2019s increasingly assertive actions in the region.
\nJapanese defence minister Yasukazu Hamada recently said that North Korea is believed to have achieved a miniaturisation of nuclear warheads while significantly advancing its missile capabilities by diversifying its launch technologies, making interceptions more difficult.
\nJapan has joined South Korea in also warning of a possible nuclear test by North Korea in the near future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOKYO An \u201cunparalleled\u201d scale of response would be warranted if North Korea conducts a seventh test of a nuclear weapons, the United States, Japan and South Korea have warned. The warning was issued on Wednesday amid concerns by the US and its regional allies that North Korea could be poised to resume nuclear bomb testing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-291849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n