The atomic attack would be the end of Kim Jong-un’s regime

(CNN) – South Korean National Defense Minister Lee Jong Sob said Thursday that “any nuclear attack” by North Korea “will lead to the end” of Kim Jong Un’s regime due to the “overwhelming and decisive response from North Korea”.

At a joint news conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon, Lee also said the United States has committed to increasing the “frequency and intensity of strategic asset deployments” in the region, in response to any provocation from North Korea. This will increase US strategic assets to the equivalent of a continuous deployment.

In addition, Lee stated that North Korea is “ready to conduct” a nuclear test, but “when it will carry it out” remains a mystery.

He added, “North Korea has to think about its political goal, and an accurate estimate of when the nuclear test will be conducted is difficult for us as well.”

North Korea fires three short-range ballistic missiles

Meanwhile, North Korea Thursday night launched three short-range ballistic missiles, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The missiles were launched from Koksan District, North Hwanghae Province, between 9:35 and 9:49 pm local time on Thursday.

“Our military has enhanced surveillance and control, and maintains a fully prepared posture while cooperating closely with the United States,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss North Korea’s missile launch.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield, announced Thursday that the United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss the recent missile launches by North Korea.

According to a spokesperson for the US mission to the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway were the countries that called for the open meeting.

In an interview on MSNBC, Thomas Greenfield denounced North Korea’s actions, noting that it “launched more than 50 missiles in 2022 alone and violated many Security Council resolutions,” while calling on Beijing to join the international and international condemnation. Efforts to contain Pyongyang.

“These are decisions…we Chinese and others are working together to put them on record against the DPRK,” he said, using North Korea’s acronym: DPRK.

But recently, China has not voted with us to condemn these measures, nor has it cooperated to add new sanctions. “We really need to step up our efforts so that the DPRK gets the message that what it is doing is not acceptable,” said Thomas Greenfield.

“We will have a Security Council meeting tomorrow to present this to the entire council,” he said, adding that the United States is “working closely” with the Japanese and South Koreans “to ensure that the DPRK does not think that this is acceptable.”