Korea threatens more tests amid Pence’s Asia visit
USVICE President Mike Pence reiterated his country’s commitment to the security of Japan yesterday, as North Korea intensified concerns over its weapons program with a vow to launch missile tests “every week”.
The North, which is intent on developing a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States, defied international pressure Sunday with a test that failed immediately after launch.
As fears grow that it may also be preparing for its sixth nuclear weapons test, Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol said that its program would only escalate.
“We’ll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis,” Han told the BBC in an interview, threatening “all-out war” if the US took any action against it.
Arriving in Tokyo for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Pence hailed the two countries’ longstanding security ties.
“The alliance between the United States and Japan is the cornerstone of peace and security in Northeast Asia,” he told Abe.
The Japanese leader called for a peaceful resolution to the North Korea tensions but did not rule out the need for tough measures.
“It is a matter of paramount importance for us to seek diplomatic efforts as well as peaceable settlements of the issue,” he said.
“At the same time dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless and it is necessary for us to exercise pressure.”
In South Korea on the first leg of an Asian tour, Pence on Monday visited the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas and warned Pyongyang against further provocations, saying “all options are on the table”.
North Korea could react to a US strike by targeting South Korea or Japan, and officials in both countries have been ill at ease with the more bellicose language deployed by Trump’s administration.
Pence pointed to Trump’s recent strikes on a Syrian airbase and an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan as a warning to Pyongyang not to underestimate the administration’s resolve.
But at a press conference with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso yesterday, Pence also played up the importance of coordination.
The administration “believes the most productive pathway forward is dialogue among the family of nations that can isolate and pressure North Korea into abandoning permanently and dismantling” its nuclear and missile programs, he said.
In early March, the North fired four missiles off its east coast, three of which fell provocatively close to Japan, in what it said was a drill for an attack on US bases in the country.