The United States would not be surprised if North Korea conducts another nuclear test, following the regime’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile this past week, a senior White House official said Sunday.
“I have been concerned for some time that North Korea would conduct what would be its seventh nuclear test going back multiple administrations. And I remain concerned about that,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CBS talk show “Face the Nation” in an interview.
“I don’t see any immediate indications that that’s going to happen,” he added.
“But it would not come as a surprise if North Korea moved forward with another nuclear test with respect to its intercontinental ballistic missile capability.”
Sullivan stressed that Pyongyang had begun testing its nuclear capacity several years ago and “they have continued to test it.”
North Korea said Thursday that it successfully tested its newest intercontinental ballistic missile, with leader Kim Jong Un personally overseeing the launch.
According to the official Korean Central News Agency, the missile, a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 that had apparently only been tested once before, flew 1,001 kilometers (622 miles) to a maximum altitude of 6,648 kilometers before splashing into the East Sea, often known as the Sea of Japan.
North and South Korean relations are at an all-time low. Kim declared his country a “irreversible” nuclear state last year and has called for increased weapon manufacturing, including tactical nukes.
The UN, the US, and its allies, including France, sharply criticized the launch on Wednesday, which violated repeated UN Security Council resolutions.
Sullivan nevertheless reiterated Washington’s offer of negotiations with Pyongyang, saying President Joe Biden’s administration is “prepared to sit down and talk without preconditions about their nuclear program.”