Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, warned on Thursday that North Korea may already have the capability to launch missiles equipped with sarin nerve agent toward Japan.
S hinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, warned on Thursday that North Korea may already have the capability to launch missiles equipped with sarin nerve agent toward Japan.
Mr Abe was speaking amid rising concern that Pyongyang was poised to throw down the gauntlet to Donald Trump with a nuclear test.
International tensions have been mounting after analysts said the rogue regime was preparing a nuclear test site ahead of a key anniversary on Saturday – occasions when North Korea has been known to test its military hardware.
Meanwhile, a US navy strike group continued to steam to North Korean waters, a show of force by Donald Trump after he vowed that Washington would act alone to confront the reclusive state over its military buildup.
Mr Trump is concerned over North Korea’s plans to develop a missile which could reach the continental United States, but Pyongyang is more likely to target either South Korea or Japan with a strike.
« The security situation around our country is getting increasingly severe, » Mr Abe said as he addressed the Japanese parliament’s diplomacy and defence committee.
« We have just talked about Syria. There is a possibility that North Korea already has a capability to put sarin on warheads to strike the ground, » he said.
N orth Korea is not a signatory to the international Chemical Weapons Convention.
