United States President Barack Obama released a statement on Friday condemning North Korea’s nuclear test earlier in the day and saying he agreed with leaders from Japan and South Korea to call for new sanctions against Pyongyang.
Obama stated the U.S. “does not, and never will, accept North Korea as a nuclear state,” adding Pyongyang’s actions are “provocative and destabilizing.” Calling the second nuclear test North Korea conducted this year “a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions,” he noted the international community should cooperate not only to implement earlier agreed measures, but also to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang.
The president claimed he assured Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye that the U.S. is committed to defending its “allies” in the region and is willing to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) if necessary.
Image: EPA / Mark R. Cristino
