In this file photo taken on Jan 20, 2022, a woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a DPRK missile test, at a railway station in Seoul. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
SEOUL – The Republic of Korea's national security adviser has said he and his counterparts from the United States and Japan have agreed there will be no soft response if the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea conducts a nuclear test, Yonhap news agency reported on Friday.
Kim Sung-han made the comment after trilateral talks with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Akiba Takeo of Japan in Hawaii amid signs the North has completed preparations to conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.
READ MORE: Kim says DPRK ready to mobilize nuclear war deterrent
If North Korea conducts its seventh nuclear test, our three countries, together with the international community, will maximize cooperation in a way that (North Korea) realizes it was a clearly wrong choice.
Kim Sung-han, ROK's national security adviser
"If North Korea conducts its seventh nuclear test, our three countries, together with the international community, will maximize cooperation in a way that (North Korea) realizes it was a clearly wrong choice," Kim told reporters, according to Yonhap. The DPRK is also referred to as North Korea.
"We have agreed there should never be such a complacent thinking or response that North Korea has conducted just another nuclear test in addition to the six tests it did."
In mid-August, the DPRK fired two cruise missiles from its west coast after the ROK and the United States resumed the largest field exercises in years.
Pyongyang has long denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for war.
The ROK's foreign minister has said Pyongyang will likely face stronger sanctions aimed at curbing its cyberattack capabilities, a key funding source, if it pushes ahead with another nuclear test. During the latest talks, the three officials also agreed to cooperate on global supply chain issues, while Kim separately raised concerns over new US rules on subsidies for electric vehicles, the ROK's presidential office said.
Kim said after a bilateral meeting with Sullivan the previous day that the United States has promised to review the impact of the new rules after Seoul raised concern they could hurt ROK automakers.
ALSO READ: UN report: DPRK developed nuclear, missile programs in 2020
Measures under the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by US President Joe Biden last month, would include halting subsidies for EVs made outside North America, which could affect companies like Hyundai Motor Co and its affiliate Kia Corp.
This week's meeting marked the three officials' first gathering since ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol took office in May.