South Korea’s Yoon says North has finished preparing for nuke test

SEOUL (Kyodo) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that North Korea has completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test, as his country remains on alert for further provocations by Pyongyang.

North Korea “seems to have completed its preparations” for a nuclear test, Yoon said during a speech at the National Assembly, amid growing speculation that North Korea will soon carry out its first nuclear test since September 2017.

Yoon criticized Pyongyang’s recent ballistic missile tests in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that have been carried out at an “unprecedented pace.”

He vowed that South Korea and the United States will ramp up cooperation to counter the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programs.

Since the start of the year, North Korea has carried out 27 rounds of missile tests.