Reports said South Korea had prepared a detailed plan for a preemptive strike that would reduce the North’s capital, Pyongyang, to rubble and target the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. According to Yonhap, South Korean nuclear and weapons experts recently formed a think tank to discuss the practicalities of arming the South with nuclear weapons. “Only nuclear weapons could be an effective deterrence against nuclear weapons,” Yonhap quoted Won Yoo-chul as saying, adding that he had the support of other party officials. North Korea, meanwhile, ridiculed reports that Barack Obama, who has been criticised for the lack of progress made on North Korea’s nuclear programme during his presidency, was considering unilateral sanctions in response to Friday’s test. South Korea in July announced plans to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) system in the south of the country to counter growing nuclear and missile threats from the North.

Source: The Guardian September 11, 2016 07:32 UTC