The United States has announced other plans in case North Korea won't stop its nuclear and ballistic missile testing. On Tuesday, the U.S. warned that they will come up with new sanctions or security steps should North Korea continue its ballistic missile testing.
Obama said the U.S. government was setting up its missile development system that could possibly block North Korea's low-level threats. Yonhap News agency of South Korea reported recently that North Korea is preparing test-launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, Reuters claims. U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner warned that North Korea should stop actions that would undermine the region, otherwise they would be forced to weigh in other plans.
"I think it's pretty clear that as North Korea continues to make decisions that we believe are counterproductive, that we've got to also continually look at what our options are in terms of response," Toner said. The department spokesman declined to elaborate which options were he pertaining to when asked.
The fourth nuclear bomb was tested by North Korea on January 6. It was followed by a long-range rocket on Feb. 7 that led to widening U.S. and United Nations sanctions. Obama has called North Korea as an "erratic" country with an "irresponsible" leader after a series of nuclear and ballistic missile testing. The nation has since introduced numerous missile tests with the latest submarine-launched ballistic missile on Saturday, according to Yahoo.
North Korea had unsuccessfully launched a Musdan that is claimed a missile that could reach as far as Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam. However, Yonhap was quoted saying that a South Korean government officer claimed that there were chances that North Korea will launch another same missile anytime. It is unclear whether the country has launched it already successfully. The South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman, on the other hand, affirmed that North Korea is preparing to launch the missile after the failed attempt, The Wire reports.
On April 24, North Korea claimed that the launching of the submarine ballistic missile was a great success. For them, the successful launch indicated one more means for powerful nuclear attack. Washington has collaborated with Seoul to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a missile-defense system.
