US General Expects North Korea to Conduct Second Nuclear Test

美将领称北韩会再次核试

The commander of U.S. forces in South Korea says he expects North Korea to conduct a second nuclear test "sometime in the future." General Burwell Bell said in Seoul Monday that Pyongyang likely will detonate another nuclear device as part of its program to develop what he called "provocative weapons."

North Korea set off an underground nuclear device October ninth. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to bolster its defenses against U.S. threats. General Bell says North Korea's nuclear test did not change the balance of power on the Korean peninsula, and that if North Korea attacks the South, U.S. and South Korean forces would quickly defeat the aggression. But he said the the allied forces would not conduct a pre-emptive strike against North Korea.

美国驻韩国军队指挥官说，他预计北韩会在“将来某个时候”进行第二次核试验。贝尔将军星期一在首尔说，平壤很可能会再次试爆核装置，继续进行发展“挑衅性武器”的计划。

北韩在10月9日进行了一次地下核试验。平壤表示，北韩需要拥有核武器来加强对美国威胁的防御能力。贝尔将军说，北韩的核试验没有改变朝鲜半岛的力量平衡，如果北韩攻击韩国，美国和韩国的军事力量将能很快击败北韩的侵略。不过他说，联军不会向北韩发动先发制人的攻击。