NBC News reported Tuesday that two U.S. military officials warned that North Korea could test a ballistic missile "in the coming days." CBS News reported that the Pentagon believes a test could occur "in the next week or two." If Pyongyang does conduct a ballistic missile test, it would be their seventh launch in the last six months.
Shortly after news of the expected launch broke, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley told reporters that the U.S. "will never accept a nuclear North Korea":
North Korea has long said that it will never surrender its nuclear arsenal and its dictator, Kim Jong Un, claimed Monday that the country's stockpile ensures that the U.S. "will not dare" attack. Experts said North Korea's last ballistic missile test, conducted in November, demonstrated Pyongyang may have the capability to strike the entire United States.
News of a possible North Korean missile test comes only a day after Kim said he wants to have talks with South Korea before the Winter Olympics, which begin next month in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang. A South Korean government official on Tuesday called for a meeting to occur next week. Haley, however, warned that the proposed talks were irrelevant if North Korea does not give up its nuclear weapons. Kelly O'Meara Morales