The website of South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Monday that the Korean Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea is likely to undertake hit-and-run provocations in response.
Representatives of South Korea, China, the United States and Japan in six-party talks to dismantle the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program will meet this week to discuss the DPRK's fourth nuclear test, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.
South Korea said Monday, January 11, that further U.S. "strategic assets" might be deployed to the Korean peninsula, following a flyover by a US B-52 bomber in response to North Korea's latest nuclear test.
"The United States and South Korea are continuously and closely having discussions on additional deployment of strategic assets", the spokesman, Kim Min-seok, said.
The comments are adding to media speculation that Washington could move the USS Ronald Reagan, its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier stationed in Japan, into Korean waters and also bring in B-2 stealth bombers and F-22 stealth fighter jets.
North Korea's test on Wednesday angered both the United States and China, which was not given prior notice, though the USA government and weapons experts doubt the North's claim that the device it set off was a hydrogen bomb.
The B-52, flying out of Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, was joined by South Korean F-15 fighter aircraft and U.S. F-16 fighter aircraft.
The flight follows the recent nuclear test by North Korea.
Lee, who was conducting a joint inspection of air force units, said there is a "very high likelihood" North Korea would undertake more provocative acts, and precautions are necessary.
Meanwhile, the U.S. sent a heavy bomber over South Korea on Sunday in a show of force.
"It is legitimate right of a sovereign state, which no one can refute", Kim was quoted saying by KCNA, as noted by Korea Times Sunday.
The broadcasts, which include "K-pop" music and statements critical of the Kim government, began on Friday and are considered an insult by Pyongyang.
The United States and other global powers condemned North Korea for testing another bomb, and the United Nations Security Council met in emergency session to consider increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang.
"There has been an increase in troops along the border following North Korea's fourth nuclear test", Mr Kim said.
Another official reportedly said that the sound coming from North Korea was "very weak", but analysts had previously noted that Pyongyang's primary concern would be to nullify the impact of South Korea's messages north of the border.
124 South Korean companies operate just north of the border at the complex, which was shut down for several months in 2013 during a period of high tensions.
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