SEOUL, South Korea/UNITED NATIONS — South Korea on Tuesday said an agreement with the US to scrap a weight limit on its warheads would help it respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threat after Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test two days ago.
South Korean officials believe more provocation from the reclusive state is possible, despite international outrage over Sunday's test and calls for more sanctions on North Korea.
South Korea's Asia Business Daily, citing an unidentified source, reported on Tuesday that North Korea had been spotted moving a rocket that appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile toward its west coast.
The rocket started moving Monday and was spotted moving only at night to avoid surveillance, the report said.
South Korea's defense ministry, which on Monday warned that North Korea was ready to launch an ICBM at any time, said it was unable to confirm the contents of the report.
North Korea tested two ICBMs in July that could fly about 6,200 miles, putting many parts of the US mainland within range and prompting a new round of international sanctions against Pyongyang.
On Monday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was "begging for war" and urged the 15-member UN Security Council to impose the "strongest possible" sanctions to deter him and shut down his trading partners.
US President Donald Trump held calls with foreign leaders on Monday, including South Korean President Moon Jae-in and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the White House declared that "all options to address the North Korean threat are on the table."
South Korea is talking to Washington about deploying aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean Peninsula, and it has been ramping up its defenses in the meantime.
Moon and Trump agreed on Monday to scrap a warhead weight limit on South Korea's missiles, South Korea's presidential office said, enabling it to strike North Korea with greater force in the event of a military conflict. The White House said Trump gave "in-principle approval" to the move.
"We believe the unlimited warhead payload will be useful in responding to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a briefing on Tuesday.
Under the current guidelines, most recently changed in 2012, South Korea can develop missiles up to a range of 500 miles with a maximum payload of 1,102 pounds.
South Korea's navy also held more drills on Tuesday.
"Today's training is being held to prepare for maritime North Korean provocations, inspect our navy's readiness, and to reaffirm our will to punish the enemy," an unidentified South Korean naval officer told the same Defense Ministry briefing.
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'Patience not unlimited'
Speaking at the UN, Haley said the US would circulate a new Security Council resolution on North Korea this week and wanted a vote on it on Monday.
"War is never something the United States wants," Haley said. "We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited. We will defend our allies and our territory."
China, North Korea's main ally and trading partner, and Russia called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
"China will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula," said Liu Jieyi, the Chinese ambassador to the UN, urging North Korea to stop taking actions that were "wrong" and not in its own interests.
Russia said peace in the region was in jeopardy.
"Sanctions alone will not help solve the issue," Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said.
North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic-missile and nuclear programs. Typically, China and Russia view only a test of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapon as a trigger for further possible UN sanctions.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned of a "massive" military response if the US or its allies were threatened in the wake of Sunday's test. Pyongyang said it had successfully tested an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile on Sunday, something experts believe it has now achieved or is very close to achieving.
Trump has previously vowed to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and said he would unleash "fire and fury" if it threatened US territory.
Despite the tough talk, the immediate focus of the international response was on tougher economic sanctions.
Diplomats have said the Security Council could now consider banning North Korean textile exports and its national airline, stop supplies of oil to the government and military, prevent North Koreans from working abroad and add top officials to a blacklist to subject them to an asset freeze and travel ban.
The sanctions imposed after July's missile tests aimed to slash Pyongyang's $3 billion annual export revenue by a third by banning exports of coal, iron, lead, and seafood.
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