U.S. Warns Kim Jong Un Of ‘Forceful Response’ To Nuclear Test
(Bloomberg) -- The US warned North Korea of a strong punishment if it conducts a nuclear test, as Washington and a United Nations' watchdog agency have said signs indicate Pyongyang could soon set off its first atomic device since 2017.
“There would be a swift and forceful response to such a test,” Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said in Seoul in a Tuesday meeting with her South Korean counterpart.
“Any nuclear tests would be in complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” she said, adding it “would be very destabilizing to the world security.” Sherman didn't elaborate on specific measures, but suggested the US could work with its allies to levy punishments.
There's almost no chance Russia or China, which have veto power at the UN Security council, would support any new sanctions against North Korea, as they did in 2017 following a series of weapons tests that prompted then President Donald Trump to warn of “fire and fury.” The two countries in late May vetoed a council resolution drafted by the US to ratchet up sanctions on North Korea for its ballistic missile tests this year.
The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said it has observed indications North Korea “may be preparing for a nuclear test.” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at a meeting Monday of the agency's Board of Governors such a test “would be a cause for serious concern.”
A test of a nuclear device would be North Korea's seventh and the fifth under leader Kim Jong Un. His regime last tested a nuclear weapon in September 2017, which was its most powerful atomic bomb by far with an estimated yield of between 120-250 kilotons.
Any display of the weapons in Kim's nuclear arsenal would serve as a reminder of the pressing security problems posed by Pyongyang that have simmered as US President Joe Biden's administration has been focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Satellite imagery indicated workers have been digging a new passageway at the Punggye-ri site, where North Korea has conducted all of its previous nuclear tests, specialist service NK News and others reported.
N. Korea Fires 8 Missiles, Testing Biden With Launch Record
Over the weekend, North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles Sunday, pushing it to a record number of launches in a single year under Kim.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Talking Points This Week: Leadership Shock At Nvidia, Earnings Strength, And The Fog Over Hormuz
The Anthropic IPO pricing and first trading day, Nvidia's upcoming earnings, and any fresh signals from Iran will set the tone for the following week.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
