France ’ s foreign minister warned Friday that North Korea could have the capacity to deliver a nuclear strike on the United States and even Europe “ within months ”.
Jean - Yves Le Drian called the situation following a string of missile tests by Pyongyang “ extremely serious ” and urged the reclusive state to turn to dialogue to ease spiralling tensions.
“ We see a North Korea whose objective is to have missiles capable of transporting a nuclear weapon tomorrow , ” Le Drian told RTL radio
“ In a few months , that will be a reality . At that moment , when it has the capability to hit the US, even Europe and at the very least Japan and China , with a nuclear weapon , the situation will be explosive .”
Early on Tuesday, North Korea fired an intermediate - range Hwasong - 12 over Japan , prompting US President Donald Trump to say that “ all options ” were on the table in an implied threat of pre-emptive military action.
The UN Security Council denounced Pyongyang’ s latest missile test , unanimously demanding a halt to its programme.
Le Drian called on Pyongyang to “ return to the path of negotiations ” in a bid to ease tensions.
A joint mediation effort put forward by China and Russia would involve a mutual pause in both missile tests by North Korea as well as the joint South Korean - US military exercises by Seoul.
Pyongyang has also threatened to fire rockets towards the US Pacific territory of Guam.
In July , it carried out its first two successful tests of an intercontinental-range missile, apparently bringing much of the US mainland into range.
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