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The recent warning from DPRK's foreign minister of a possible atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean should be taken literally, a senior DPRK official told CNN in an interview aired on Wednesday.
"The foreign minister is very well aware of the intentions of our supreme leader, so I think you should take his words literally," Ri Yong Pil, a senior diplomat with DPRK's Foreign Ministry, told CNN.
DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said last month Pyongyang may consider conducting "the most powerful detonation" of a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean amid rising tensions with the United States.
DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho walks to speak to the media outside the Millennium hotel New York, US, September 25, 2017.
The minister made the comment after US President Donald Trump warned that the DPRK, which has been working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States, would be totally destroyed if it threatened America.
CIA chief Mike Pompeo said last week that the DPRK could be only months away from gaining the ability to hit the United States with nuclear weapons.
Experts say an atmospheric test would be a way of demonstrating that capability. All of DPRK's previous nuclear tests have been conducted underground.
A DPRK soldier keeps watch toward the south at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, September 28, 2017.
Trump next week will make a visit to Asia during which he will highlight his campaign to pressure the DPRK to give up its nuclear and missile programs.
Despite the bellicose rhetoric, White House officials say Trump is looking for a peaceful resolution of the standoff. But all options, including military ones, are on the table.
On Wednesday, Trump was asked whether he would visit the tense demilitarized zone dividing the DPRK and South Korea during his Asia tour and responded enigmatically.
"I'd rather not say, but you'll be surprised," he told reporters.
(REUTERS)
