(Washington) The United States would be “not surprised” if North Korea conducts a new nuclear test, after its intercontinental ballistic missile test this week, said the national security adviser to the American president, Jake Sullivan.
“I’ve been concerned for some time that North Korea will conduct what would be its seventh nuclear test,” Sullivan said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS television.
“I don’t see any indications that it’s going to happen anytime soon,” Sullivan added.
“But it wouldn’t be a surprise if North Korea conducted another nuclear test related to its intercontinental ballistic missile capability,” he said.
He pointed out that Pyongyang had started testing this capability several years ago and “continued to do so”.
North Korea said on Thursday that it had successfully tested, under the supervision of its leader Kim Jong-un himself, its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The missile, a Hwasong-18 believed to have been used only once before, in April, traveled 1,001 km at a maximum altitude of 6,648 km before crashing into the East Sea, assured the official KCNA news agency, using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.
The North Korean number one described last year as “irreversible” the status of nuclear power of his country and called for an increased development of armaments, in particular of tactical nuclear weapons.
The United Nations, the United States and their allies, including France, strongly condemned the missile launch, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Mr. Sullivan nevertheless reiterated the United States’ offer of negotiations, assuring that Washington was “ready to sit down and discuss their nuclear program without preconditions”.