North Korea intends to conduct its seventh nuclear test, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. “As we gather today Pyongyang is preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test,” Blinken said at the NPT Review Conference at the United Nations in New York. Meanwhile, the defence chiefs of South Korea and the US have agreed to reinforce both policy and military measures to reinforce readiness against evolving North Korean nuclear and missile threats, an official here said on Sunday.
During their talks in Washington on Friday, Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup and his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, decided to restart the allies’ high-level Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) meeting at an early date and strengthen the Table Top Exercise (TTX), Yonhap News Agency quoted the official as saying. Seoul and Washington have been seeking to resume the EDSCG, a gathering of the allies’ vice-ministerial defence and diplomatic officials, which was suspended in 2018 amid joint efforts to promote diplomacy with Pyongyang. The EDSCG is a key policy dialogue that Seoul has been counting on to enhance the credibility of America’s extended deterrence — its stated commitment to mobilizing a full range of its military capabilities, including its nuclear options, to defend its Asian ally. Expected to resume in September, the gathering itself is predicted to send a message of deterrence to the North, observers pointed out.