An influential American senator on Sunday called for serious consideration of redeploying U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea.
In an interview with CNN, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he thinks "it ought to be seriously considered" in the wake of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile threats.
South Korea's conservative main opposition party has stepped up calls for the redeployment, although the liberal Moon Jae-in administration insists it would go against the principle of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. withdrew tactical nuclear weapons from the peninsula in the early 1990's.
McCain also said Washington should make clear to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that "if he acts in an aggressive fashion, the price will be extinction."
North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last week, claiming it successfully detonated an H-bomb that can be mounted on a long-range missile.
In July, it carried out two tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile that could theoretically reach the mainland U.S.
The senator said the U.S. should put more economic pressure on China to compel it to rein in its wayward ally.
"We've got to tell the Chinese: It will hurt the United States if we lose some trade with you, but I'm telling you now, something is going to have to change," he said. (Yonhap)
