NEW DELHI: US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday it would be "shocking" irresponsibility for North Korea to carry out its threat to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific.
The new comments, made while Mattis headed for India, followed a shrill war of words between the North Korean and US leaders over Pyongyang´s nuclear programme.
Pyongyang´s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Saturday that his country could test a nuclear bomb over the Pacific.
"This would be a shocking display of irresponsibility for global health, towards stability, towards non-proliferation," Mattis told reporters on his flight to India.
He declined to comment when asked if such a test would constitute an act of war.
Amid bitter wrangling between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, US bombers and jet fighters flew off the North Korean coast on Saturday in a show of force.
The North´s nuclear programme will be one of the regional security topics raised by Mattis with Indian leaders during his three-day stay.
-
Lenore Taylor resigns as Guardian Australia editor after decade-long tenure -
Epstein case: Ghislaine Maxwell invokes Fifth, refuses to testify before US Congress -
Savannah Guthrie receives massive support from Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner after desperate plea -
Trump nears 500 press interactions in his second term, surpassing former President Biden -
Snow forecast warns of reduced visibility and travel risks in Ontario -
Casey Wasserman says he ‘deeply regrets’ Ghislaine Maxwell emails after DOJ file release -
Gordie Howe Bridge faces uncertainty after Trump warning to Canada -
Air Canada’s flights to Cuba halted as aviation fuel crisis worsens