Biden vows to ‘respond accordingly’ if North Korea escalates missile testing following latest launch
- Pyongyang on Thursdsay launched two weapons from its east coast into the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea
- Thursday’s test was the nuclear-armed nation’s first substantive provocation since Biden’s inauguration as US president
The nuclear-armed North has a long history of using weapons tests to ramp up tensions, in a carefully calibrated process to try to forward its objectives.
Pyongyang had been biding its time since the new administration took office, not even officially acknowledging its existence until last week. But on Thursday it launched two weapons from its east coast into the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea.
It was a violation of UN resolutions and the US was “consulting with our partners and allies”, Biden said, warning North Korea that “there will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly.”
“I’m also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearisation,” he told reporters.