Boris Johnson has warned that Kim Jong-un could ‘vaporise’ the South Korean capital Seoul while admitting that there it no ‘easy military solution’ after Kim Jong-un tested a powerful underground hydrogen bomb.
The Foreign Secretary condemned the ‘reckless’ North Korean nuclear test and warned that being able to fit a warhead to a missile would present a ‘new order of threat’ from the regime.
Mr Johnson, pictured, said the UK’s view was that ‘peaceful diplomatic means’ are the best way to resolve the crisis in the Korean peninsula.
In an attempt to play down the threat of conflict he said that ‘none of the military options are good’ – but added that ‘it is of course right to say that all options are on the table’.
Mr Johnson, pictured, said the UK’s view was that ‘peaceful diplomatic means’ are the best way to resolve the crisis in the Korean peninsula
North Korean television today released these photos appearing to show Kim Jong-Un signing the order to carry out the test
Kim Jong-Un (left) appears to sign the order (right) asking his scientist to proceed with the test
The detonation of the nuclear device was North Korea’s sixth and most powerful test to date.
Pyongyang called the test a ‘perfect success’ but it has led to condemnation from around the world.
Theresa May said that the action by North Korea was ‘reckless and poses an unacceptable further threat to the international community’.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile branded the country ‘a rogue nation’ whose ‘words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous’ to the United States.
Mr Trump tweeted that North Korea ‘has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success’.
Mr Johnson called for ‘common sense’ to prevail in the crisis and urged Beijing to put further pressure on Kim’s regime.
Yonhap, South Korea’s official news agency, reports the quake struck where North Korea’s nuclear test site Punggyeri is located
He said: ‘There is no question that this is another provocation, it is reckless, what they are doing is they seem to be moving closer towards a hydrogen bomb which, if fitted to a successful missile would unquestionably present a new order of threat.
‘We have to consider how to respond and it’s our view in the UK, overwhelmingly, that peaceful diplomatic means are the best.’
Mr Johnson said: ‘Over the 30 year history of North Korea’s attempt to acquire nuclear weapons there have been tough moments and moments when they have backed down again.
‘We are working to see if we can get some common sense here.’
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, pictured, called for ‘common sense’ to prevail in the crisis and urged Beijing to put further pressure on Kim’s regime
The earthquake came after North Korea claimed it had developed a more advanced nuclear weapon. Photos released on Sunday show the country’s leader Kim Jong-un inspecting a hydrogen bomb
Overhead pictures of Punggye-ri nuclear test site from August 17, published by 38 North, revealed Kim Jong-un could order a test blast ‘at any time with minimal advance warning’, experts said
Asked how close the crisis was to conflict, Mr Johnson said: ‘It’s certainly our view that none of the military options are good. It is of course right to say that all options are on the table, but we really don’t see an easy military solution.’
The distance between North Korea and South Korea’s capital Seoul is small and ‘they could basically vapourise’ large parts of the population even with conventional weapons, he warned.
‘So that’s not really very easy to threaten and to deliver,’ he said.
‘Much more productive we think is to continue with the international diplomatic effort.’
In a call for Beijing to increase pressure on Pyongyang he said: ‘What the Chinese always say is that there is a kind of equivalence between the South Korea/American military exercises and that nuclear testing conducted by North Korea.
‘We don’t accept that: what the South Koreans do is entirely legitimate, it’s peaceful, it’s been going on for years, it doesn’t represent any illegal provocation of that kind.
‘Our message to the Chinese is, and we are working ever more closely with them, we think there is more scope for you the Chinese to put economic pressure on the North Koreans.
‘It has worked, we have seen signs in the last six months of Chinese pressure actually changing the approach of North Koreans – let’s see if we can do it again.’