US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his meeting with the South Korean foreign minister Park Jin asserted that both countries “will continue to keep the pressure on” North Korea.
The South Korean foreign minister informed that “North Korea has now finished the preparation for another nuclear test” and only a “political decision has to be made” as Blinken reiterated that the Biden administration “will continue to reach out to the DPRK”.
Also Read: North Korea not responding to multiple calls for talks, says US
North Korea had conducted a series of ballistic missile tests at the start of the year angering the US and the West even as South Korea said it was ready to engage with its neighbour “without preconditions.”
Talks between North Korea and the US had broken down during the Trump administration over denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Kim Jong-Un’s regime has rejected US requests for talks while scaling missile launches in the past two years.
Watch: Tensions simmer in Korean peninsula
Park said China can play a key role to persuade North Korea to maintain peace which he said “requires their new thinking”.
Meanwhile, Kim Jong Un met his senior officials and presented plans to boost the country’s military power and defence research.
South Korean authorities had said last week that the North Korean side had fired multiple artillery rounds in a show of strength as tensions continue on the border as South Korea vowed to boost defence capabilities to counter the North Korean threat.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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