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Concern is growing that North Korea could be preparing to test a
nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017 following a record
number of missile tests this year, including that of its largest
intercontinental ballistic missile.
Yellen declined to give specifics of what further sanctions
Washington could impose on North Korea, or when, but said there
were options for doing so.
The U.S. Treasury generally will not discuss sanctions it could
put in place before any announcement, Yellen said in an
interview on her military aircraft en route to Seoul, the South
Korean capital.
But she said more potential sanctions were available to increase
pressure on Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program, and such
measures would probably be discussed during her meetings on
Tuesday with senior South Korean officials in Seoul.
Washington would view any nuclear test as very provocative, she
said.
Yellen will meet South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Deputy
Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho, and other senior officials as she
wraps up her first visit as secretary to the Indo-Pacific
region, the Treasury said.
She visited Japan last week before traveling to the Indonesian
island of Bali for a meeting with finance officials from the
Group of 20 major economies.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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