SEOUL: North Korea could be preparing another missile launch, Seoul said Monday as it stepped up its defenses following Pyongyang鈥檚 biggest-ever nuclear test and declaration it had a hydrogen bomb.
The South and the United States will deploy more of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile launchers that have infuriated Beijing, the defense ministry said.
The announcement came after Seoul fired an early morning volley of ballistic missiles in an exercise simulating an attack on the North鈥檚 nuclear test site.
Pictures showed South Korean short-range Hyunmoo ballistic missiles roaring into the sky in the pale light of dawn from a launch site on the country鈥檚 east coast.
Pyongyang said the device it detonated Sunday was a hydrogen bomb 鈥� far more powerful than the fission-based devices it is believed to have previously tested 鈥� and small enough to fit into a missile.
The blast laid down a new gauntlet to President Donald Trump, after the North in July twice tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that appeared to bring much of the US mainland into range, and threatened to send a salvo of missiles toward the US territory of Guam.
South Korean defense ministry officials estimated its strength at 50 kilotons 鈥� five times the size of the North鈥檚 previous nuclear test, and more than three times bigger than the US device which obliterated Hiroshima in 1945.
But they did not confirm whether it was a hydrogen bomb, saying only that 鈥渁 variety of nuclear material鈥� had been used.
Signs that North Korea was 鈥減reparing for another ballistic missile launch have consistently been detected since Sunday鈥檚 test,鈥� the ministry said.
It did not give details, or indicate when a launch might take place, but said it could involve an ICBM being fired into the Pacific Ocean to raise pressure on Washington further.
After Sunday鈥檚 test the United States warned it could launch a 鈥渕assive military response鈥� to threats from North Korea that would be 鈥渂oth effective and overwhelming.鈥�
鈥淲e are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea,鈥� Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, but warned: 鈥淲e have many options to do so.鈥�
Trump called an emergency meeting of his national security advisers and had his second telephone call of the weekend with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
But he did not talk to South Korea鈥檚 Moon Jae-In for more than 24 hours 鈥� instead accusing Seoul of 鈥渁ppeasement,鈥� raising jitters in Seoul about the two countries鈥� decades-old alliance.
Moon, who advocates engagement as well as penalties to bring Pyongyang to the negotiating table, called for new United Nations sanctions to 鈥渃ompletely isolate North Korea.鈥�
But Trump criticized the US treaty ally on Twitter, saying: 鈥淪outh Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!鈥�
The nuclear test prompted an international chorus of condemnation, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemning it as 鈥減rofoundly destabilising.鈥� The Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday.
At their summit in China, the North鈥檚 key ally, the five-nation BRICS grouping 鈥� taking in the host nation as well as Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa 鈥� said Monday it 鈥渟trongly deplores鈥� the test.
Moon and Abe agreed to work for stronger sanctions against the North, but seven sets of UN measures have so far done nothing to deter Pyongyang.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday his department was preparing measures to 鈥渃ut off North Korea economically鈥� and ensure anyone trading with it could not do business with the US.
That would impact Beijing, which is responsible for about 90 percent of the North鈥檚 commerce, but would also have dramatic consequences for the US as China is the world鈥檚 second-largest economy.
On Sunday US monitors measured a powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake near the North鈥檚 main testing site, felt in parts of China and Russia, with an aftershock possibly caused by a rock cave-in.
According to the South鈥檚 Yonhap news agency, Seoul鈥檚 National Intelligence Service said it was the fifth blast the North had conducted in the same No 2 tunnel at the Punggye-ri test site, and it was 鈥渓ikely to have collapsed.鈥�
But it said the North had already completed construction of a third tunnel, so that it could carry out another test at any time it chose, and work was underway on a fourth.
The North hailed the test as 鈥渁 perfect success,鈥� with Pyongyang residents celebrating as a jubilant television newsreader hailed the 鈥渦nprecedentedly large鈥� blast.
Despite fears of a possible radioactive leak after the apparent collapse, Japanese and Chinese scientists said they had detected no radiation in the atmosphere.
Hours before the test, the North released images of leader Kim Jong-Un at the Nuclear Weapons Institute, inspecting a device it called a 鈥渢hermonuclear weapon with super explosive power鈥� entirely made 鈥渂y our own efforts and technology.鈥�
The respected 38 North website urged caution, saying 鈥淚t is likely that an actual device will have a somewhat different design and that this was only a model mock-up.鈥�
The North says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the threat of invasion, and analysts say it is seeking to build up its hand for any future negotiations with Washington.
But Trump has warned Pyongyang that it faces 鈥渇ire and fury鈥� and that US weapons are 鈥渓ocked and loaded.鈥�
鈥淭he Americans need to open a direct channel at a high level with the North Koreans,鈥� John Delury of Yonsei University in Seoul told AFP. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the missing piece to all of this.鈥�
N. Korea could be preparing new missile launch: Seoul
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