North Korea will face a "swift and severe" response if it performs a widely predicted nuclear test, said the Deputy US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

According to media reports, Sherman gave the warning after meeting with her South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun-dong, in Seoul to discuss the North's weekend missile launches and the likelihood of a sixth nuclear test. Sherman told reporters that any nuclear tests would be "completely in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions."

"Such a test would be met with a prompt and harsh response. The entire world will retaliate in a forceful and unequivocal manner. We have everything we need." Concerning North Korea's Covid-19 crisis, the US diplomat urged Kim Jong-un to concentrate on dealing with the public health issue "rather than taking provocative, risky, and destabilising steps."

Sherman, on the other hand, reaffirmed the Biden administration's determination to re-engage the North. 
"The United States has no hostile intentions toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. We continue to call on Pyongyang to halt its destabilising and aggressive actions and pursue diplomacy instead "she said. 

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is the North's official name.

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