South Korea stays "fully" ready for any provocation by North Korea as concerns remain high that the reclusive state could carry out provocative acts to mark one of its major political events, a foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday.
Tensions are running high that the North could engage in provocative acts in the days to come to mark the 72nd anniversary of establishing the ruling Workers' Party that falls on Tuesday."At a time when the North is publicly threatening additional provocations, our government is paying close attention to the possibility ... and remains fully ready for them," Noh Kyu-duk, foreign ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing.
Noh added that it is possible that the North could conduct more intercontinental ballistic missile, submarine-launched ballistic missile and even nuclear tests.
Asked about a response to a possible military action against the North to resolve the nuclear stalemate, he reiterated the Seoul government's stance that the North's nuclear stalemate should be dealt with "peacefully" through diplomatic and political channels.
In his recent tweet, US President Donald Trump apparently suggested military options against the North by saying that "only one thing will work" to end Pyongyang's nuclear program.
"It is our government's consistent stance that a war should not break out again on the Korean Peninsula," the spokesman said.
He assured that any action against the North will be taken in close coordination between the two allies. (Yonhap)
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