U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has said there would be a “forceful response” from the United States if North Korea conducts another nuclear test.
North Korea has not tested a nuclear bomb since 2017 but there has been growing unrest in the region of late.
South Korea and U.S. forces fired eight surface-to-surface missiles early on Monday off South Korea's east coast in response to a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea on Sunday.
Both the South Korean and American government authorities and North Korean experts have been saying for weeks that there are signs of new construction at Punggye-ri, North Korea's only known nuclear test site, and that Pyongyang could soon test a bomb.
"Any nuclear test would be in complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions (and) there would be a swift and forceful response to such a test...” said Sherman. “I believe that not only ROK and United States and Japan but the entire world will respond in a strong and clear manner."
Speaking at a press conference with her South Korean counterpart she added: "We are prepared and ... we will continue our trilateral discussion (with South Korea and Japan) tomorrow."
The International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday that North Korean building work expanding key facilities at its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon is advancing.
The country has been dealing with its first outbreak of Covid-19 in recent weeks, with a reported total of 4,198,890 people showing fever symptoms as of Monday. North Korea has not confirmed the total number of people testing positive for the coronavirus, with experts saying the announced figures could be under-reported.
Despite the World Health Organisation claiming that North Korea's Covid problem is getting worse, Pyongyang has so far refused any help offered by Washington and Seoul.
"The ROK and the United States and others have offered humanitarian response that has yet to be accepted but we hope that (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un will be focused on helping his people to meet this challenge of COVID-19 which we have all faced and will return to the negotiating table are rather than taking provocative and dangerous and destabilizing actions," Sherman said.
