South Korean officials are considering a preemptive strike against North Korea amid fears that the North will soon conduct a nuclear weapons test in response to a new round of sanctions by the United Nations.
North Korea last conducted a short-range ballistic missile test in December. Its last nuclear test was an underground detonation in 2009.
The Hankyoreh, a daily newspaper in South Korea, reports that Jung Seung-jo, South Korea’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military would launch a preemptive attack if “signs of an imminent nuclear weapon launch against the South were detected.”
Business Insider picked up North Korea’s response via its official state-run media website: “They do not know what a real war is like and they would shudder after experiencing our military’s spirit to attack in a single breath.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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