By Alex Jensen
SEOUL (AA) – North Korea has “completed its preparations for a fifth nuclear test,” South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday as she strongly warned Pyongyang against such a move.
Park’s comments came during a meeting with local media chiefs at the South’s presidential office.
The North was on the receiving end of strengthened sanctions last month following its fourth ever nuclear test in January and subsequent rocket launch.
Despite global efforts to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, the authoritarian state has if anything intensified its pursuit of various weapon capabilities — as evidenced by Saturday’s submarine-launched ballistic missile test that drew a United Nations Security Council statement of condemnation.
“If North Korea continues to stage a provocation in disregard of warnings of the international community, it will hasten its collapse,” Park was quoted as saying by local news agency Yonhap.
Based on Tuesday’s meeting, her confidence appears to be at least partly stemming from China’s repeated announcements that it will comply with the UN’s sanctions.
Data released by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency on Sunday told a different story, however, with Chinese imports from the North actually up 13 percent on-year in March.
While North Korean coal was highlighted on the new list of sanctions released last month, shipments to China of that particular item jumped nearly 31 percent.
April’s numbers may offer a more conclusive assessment of Beijing’s attitude toward holding Pyongyang accountable for its provocations, but the general consensus among analysts is that China will not allow its traditional ally to “collapse” in the manner suggested by the South Korean president.
