No details were given as to what the potential contingency would be.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have sharply spiked in recent weeks as Washington and Pyongyang have rattled their sabers against each other, with the US announcing it would send a massive aircraft carrier strike group to waters off the Korean Peninsula and the North responding with a missile launch attempt, even though it ended in failure.

The two sides have also engaged in a war of words, with American officials repeatedly saying that all options are on the table in an apparent reference to military strikes, and North Korean officials also churning out highly belligerent rhetoric. (Yonhap)