WASHINGTON, May 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US intelligence shows there could be a North Korean nuclear test, or missile test, or both, before, during or after President Joe Biden’s trip to South Korea and Japan starting this week, the US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, said.
“We are preparing for all contingencies, including the possibility that such a provocation would occur while we are in Korea or in Japan,” Sullivan told a White House briefing.
Sullivan said the United States was coordinating closely with South Korea and Japan on the issue and had also discussed North Korea with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi about North Korea in a phone call on Wednesday.
“We’ve indicated in quite clear terms that our intelligence does reflect a genuine possibility that there will be either a further missile test, including long-range missile test, or a nuclear test, or frankly both, in the days leading into, on, or after the president’s trip to the region,” Sullivan said.
He said the United States was prepared to make both short and longer term adjustments to its military posture as necessary “to ensure that we are providing both defence and deterrence to our allies in the region and that we’re responding to any North Korean provocation.”
Any such test by North Korea would underscore the lack of progress in denuclearisation talks, and could overshadow the Biden administration’s broader focus during his Asia visit on trade and rallying allies in the face of growing competition with China.
The United States has pushed for more United Nations sanctions on North Korea, but China and Russia have signalled opposition.
Sullivan and Yang last met in Rome in March, ahead of Biden’s call that month with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the US president warned Xi of consequences should Beijing offer material support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
China has refused to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions and has criticized sweeping Western sanctions on Russia, but senior US officials say they have not detected overt Chinese military and economic support for Russia.
The United States, India, Australia and Japan agreed in March that what is happening to Ukraine should not be allowed to happen in the Indo-Pacific, an oblique reference to the democratic island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.
“If the US side persists in playing the ‘Taiwan card’ and goes further down the wrong path, it will surely put the situation in serious jeopardy,” Xinhua cited Yang as telling Sullivan.
Yang added that China would take “firm actions” to safeguard its sovereignty and security interests, Xinhua said.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told the same briefing Biden would not visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides North and South Korea during his visit to South Korea, which begins on Friday.
The White House said last week Biden was considering such a trip.
“He will not visit the DMZ … not on this trip,” Jean-Pierre said. — NNN-AGENCIES
