WASHINGTON: There is no indication that North Korea may use its nuclear weapons to attack the United States or its allies in the near future, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council (NSC) said Wednesday.
NSC coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, made the remarks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly stressed the need for the country’s military to take an “immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack” when necessary.
“There is no indications or no information at this time that would lead us to believe that some sort of actual strike by North Korea is imminent,” the NSC official said when asked if the North may be preparing to take a nuclear attack.
“But we’re watching and monitoring as best we can,” Yonhap news agency quoted Kirby as saying at a White House press briefing.
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday, which its state media later said was a simulation of a “tactical nuclear counterattack.”
Pyongyang has been consistently intensifying its nuclear rhetoric since last year when it enacted a new law that it said would allow “pre-emptive” use of nuclear weapons against South Korea and the US.
Kirby said the US remains committed to engaging with the North, but it will continue to enhance its defence capabilities amid an ongoing lack of dialogue with Pyongyang.
“Again, we urge Kim to sit down with the United States, without preconditions,” he said. “(We are) willing to sit down without precondition to talk about de-escalation of tensions and denuclearisation of the peninsula.”
“He (Kim) hasn’t taken us up on that offer, so we are going to continue to make sure we’ve got the requisite military capabilities in place,” added Kirby.
North Korea last held denuclearization talks with the US in 2019. – BERNAMA-YONHAP
