The U.S. State Department is of serious concern over a series of North Korean artillery fires, noting that it could adversely affect South Korea and Japan. Regarding the issue of relocating tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula, he emphasized the United States’ commitment to extended deterrence. Reporter Jo Eun-jung reports.
The US State Department expressed serious concern about North Korea’s successive artillery fire on the 19th.
“The bombardment we witnessed this week is a matter of serious concern,” State Department senior deputy spokeswoman Vedant Patel said in a regular briefing on the same day.
[녹취: 파텔 수석부대변인] “The shelling that we’ve seen over the course of this week is of serious concern. It is further destabilizing towards the region and has the potential for adverse impacts on our allies and partners, especially Japan and Republic of Korea with whom we continue to remain closely engaged on this.”
Patel, senior deputy spokesperson for North Korea, said the series of shelling “is making the region more destabilizing and has the potential to adversely affect our allies and partners, especially Japan and South Korea, to which we are closely involved on this matter.” said.
These remarks go one step further from the previous day’s call for a halt to North Korea’s provocations.
Patel, senior deputy spokesperson, confirmed that he was open to diplomacy with North Korea, saying that he would not analyze the intentions to the question ‘Do you think North Korea’s provocation is an action to attract attention?’
[녹취: 파텔 수석부대변인] “I’m not going to try and speculate or get in the minds of those in Pyongyang but we have been consistent over the entirety of this administration that we believe dialogue without preconditions with the DPRK is a key facet of our ultimate goal here which is the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
“We will not try to guess the minds of the people in Pyongyang,” said Patel, senior deputy spokesperson. ” he said.
When asked whether the U.S. would consider relocating its tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula, senior deputy spokesperson Patel emphasized the U.S. commitment to extended deterrence.
[녹취: 파텔 수석부대변인] “I will let my colleagues at the Pentagon speak to specific systems and their views on deployment. But I think you saw President Biden over the course of this administration affirm U.S. extended deterrence and the commitment to the ROK using the full range of U.S. defense capabilities including nuclear and conventional and missile defense capabilities.”
Senior Spokesperson Patel said, “We will let the Ministry of National Defense reveal its views on specific weapon systems and deployments.” We have confirmed our commitment to
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said that it observed that North Korea fired 350 artillery rounds into the East and West Sea buffer zones from the late night of the 18th to the afternoon of the 19th.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a warning message stating that North Korea’s artillery fire was a violation of the September 19 military agreement and that the provocation should be stopped immediately.
Earlier, on the 14th, North Korea fired a total of 560 artillery rounds into the East and West Sea buffer zones.
This is Jo Eun-jung from VOA News.