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The US and South Korea jointly warned North Korea on on Thursday that use of any kind of nuclear weapon against Seoul or other regional allies would result in the end of Kim Jong Un’s regime, as Pyongyang continued to rattle the peninsula with escalating missile tests.
North Korea has launched more than two dozen missiles over the last two days in response to US-South Korean military exercises that began on Monday.
The launches have sent South Koreans scrambling for shelter and further frayed the nerves of a population already mourning the loss of more than 150 people at a horrific Halloween crowd crush.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup, after meeting on Thursday at the Pentagon, released a joint statement saying they strongly condemned North Korea’s escalating military flexing, including ballistic missile test launches, multiple rocket launches and coastal artillery.
Any use of nuclear weapons, including lower-yield tactical nuclear devices against Seoul or other regional allies such as Japan, would result in the end of Kim Jong Un regime by the overwhelming and decisive response of the alliance, Lee said at a joint news conference with Austin.
The US and South Korea will work on response options towards all possible nuclear use scenarios by North Korea, Lee said.
Austin said North Korea’s increased aggression would not result in more US troops or assets, such as an additional aircraft carrier, being permanently relocated to the region but that Kim would see a greater US military presence rotating there.
In September the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan visited Korea for the first time in five years, Austin said.
