South Korea on Thursday warned its communist neighbor of “grave consequences” if it conducted a nuclear test as threatened last week.
“If North Korea misjudges the situation and pushes ahead with a provocation again, it will cause very grave consequences,” official spokesman Park Jeong-ha said after a meeting President Lee Myung-bak had with Ministers and top security officials in Seoul.
“The government urges North Korea to immediately halt all provocative words and actions and comply with international obligations,” the Yonhap news agency quoted the presidential spokesman as saying.
Lee directed Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin to keep the military in readiness, as North Korea was “escalating military tensions on the Korean peninsula while overtly threatening additional provocations, including a nuclear test.”
Even though the spokesman did not elaborate on the “grave consequences,” a senior presidential official later told reporters that the North would face tougher responses than the ones taken against the impoverished country in the past for banned nuclear tests and rocket launches. “If (the North) carries out a nuclear test, it will be a big mistake. It will be unfortunate for North Korea’s future,” the unnamed official said, adding that “this is the message we are sending to North Korea.”
He said South Korea was discussing with its key partner nations tougher punitive measures against the belligerent nation.
North Korea last week threatened a nuclear test hours after the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution condemning its December 12 long-range rocket launch despite call by the international community to desist from the move. It had also announced withdrawal from the Six-party Talks aimed at denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Seoul officials believe that the North has completed all preparations and can detonate a nuclear device at any time.
South Korea, its ally the United States and several Western countries believe that the North’s December 12 rocket launch was a disguised attempt to test an inter-continental ballistic missile, a charge denied by Pyongyang. South Korea is assuming the rotating presidency of the UNSC next month, and in that situation Seoul will be able to “set the agenda and convene meetings” at the global security body, the official said, adding that meetings can be called at any time in case of contingencies. China, an ally of North Korea, considers a nuclear test a much more serious issue than missile tests, he said.
by RTT Staff Writer
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