Trump says North Korea nuclear test ‘hostile and dangerous’ to US
US president joins international condemnation and says Pyongyang’s provocations are an ’embarrassment’ for its main backer China
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
US President Donald Trump condemned North Korea’s nuclear test on Sunday, calling it “hostile and dangerous to the United States,” but also berated Pyongyang’s neighbors for not taking a tougher stance.
“North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States,” Trump tweeted.
The president apparently sought to put the onus for the failure to dissuade the North on South Korea and China.
“North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success,” he said.
North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017
..North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017
Trump also said South Korea’s “talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work.” South Korean President Moon Jae-In has called for engaging with Pyongyang, but has recently adopted a more hostile stance toward North Korea over its frequent missile tests.
South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017
Trump’s remarks were the first comments from a US official on North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, which North Korean state media said was of a hydrogen bomb, and came after a number of other countries issued harsh condemnations of the nuclear blast.
South Korea’s President Moon called for the “strongest punishment” against North Korea, including new United Nations sanctions.
Moon called for “all diplomatic measures including UNSC sanctions resolutions to completely isolate North Korea,” presidential security adviser Chung Eui-Yong said after an emergency National Security Council meeting.
The South would discuss deploying “the strongest strategic assets of the US military,” he cited Moon as saying — potentially a reference to tactical nuclear weapons which were withdrawn by Washington in 1991.
South Korea’s presidential office also said Eui-yong spoke with US counterpart H.R. McMaster for 20 minutes in an emergency phone call about an hour after the detonation.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who spoke with Trump about “ongoing efforts to maximize pressure on North Korea,” called the nuclear test “absolutely unacceptable” and said North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs now pose a “more grave and urgent” threat to Japan.
“The fact that North Korea forced through a nuclear test this time is absolutely unacceptable to our country,” Abe said in a statement. “North Korea’s nuclear and missile development program is a threat that is more grave and urgent to the safety of our country and has entered a new stage.”
“It is significantly hurting regional and international peace and stability,” he added.
North Korea’s traditional ally China also denounced the test, slamming Pyongyang for ignoring international condemnation of its atomic weapons program.
North Korea “has ignored the international community’s widespread opposition, again carrying out a nuclear test. China’s government expresses resolute opposition and strong condemnation toward this,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.
“We strongly urge the DPRK (North Korea) to face the strong will of denuclearization from the international community, earnestly abide by the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, stop taking mistaken actions which worsen the situation and are also not in line with its own interests, and effectively return to the track of solving the problem through dialogue,” it added.
Beijing is North Korea’s main diplomatic ally and economic supporter and is seen as playing a crucial role in efforts to get Pyongyang to curb its weapons program.
The test came just hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping was scheduled to open a summit of BRICs nations in southern China.
North Korea’s actions created a potentially embarrassing situation for Xi, who is preparing for a politically sensitive gathering of the ruling Communist Party in October, at which he aims to further consolidate his power.
The leader chose not to address the test during his more than 40-minute address to the assembled leaders of Russia, India, South Africa and Brazil.
It was the second time this year that North Korea has timed a weapons test to coincide with a major international political gathering in China, after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile in May as leaders from 29 nations gathered in Beijing for a summit touting China’s new Silk Road project.
Sunday’s test was the sixth to be carried out by North Korea and the country’s state-controlled media said it was a thermonuclear device.
The blast was the most powerful yet from a North Korean nuclear explosion and Pyongyang said the test was a “complete success.”
North Korea’s state-run television broadcast a special bulletin Sunday afternoon to announce the test. It said leader Kim Jong Un attended a meeting of the ruling party’s presidium and signed the go-ahead order. Earlier in the day, the party’s newspaper ran a front-page story showing photos of Kim examining what it said was a nuclear warhead being fitted onto the nose of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The Times of Israel Community.