<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The United States would not be surprised if North Korea conducts another nuclear test, following the regime's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile this past week, a senior White House official said Sunday.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I have been concerned for some time that North Korea would conduct what would be its seventh nuclear test going back multiple administrations. And I remain concerned about that," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CBS talk show "Face the Nation" in an interview.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I don't see any immediate indications that that's going to happen," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"But it would not come as a surprise if North Korea moved forward with another nuclear test with respect to its intercontinental ballistic missile capability."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sullivan stressed that Pyongyang had begun testing its nuclear capacity several years ago and "they have continued to test it."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">North Korea said Thursday it successfully test-fired the reclusive country's newest ICBM, with leader Kim Jong Un personally overseeing the launch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The missile, a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 that had reportedly been test-fired only once before, flew 1,001 kilometres (622 miles) at a maximum altitude of 6,648 kilometres before splashing into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Relations between North and South Korea are at a low point. Last year, Kim declared his country an "irreversible" nuclear power, and has called for ramped-up weapons production, including of tactical nukes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The United Nations, the United States and its allies including France strongly condemned Wednesday's launch, which violated multiple UN Security Council resolutions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sullivan nevertheless reiterated Washington's offer of negotiations with Pyongyang, saying President Joe Biden's administration is "prepared to sit down and talk without preconditions about their nuclear program." AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>