North Korea is unlikely to conduct a seventh nuclear test during heavy seasonal rains, the outgoing head of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told reporters on Tuesday.

Won In-choul made the assessment ahead of a handover ceremony on Tuesday, after President Yoon Suk-yeol tapped Army Gen. Kim Seung-kyum for the top military position earlier this week.

“It’s monsoon season in North Korea and there’s heavy rain there, so it wouldn’t be easy to immediately conduct a nuclear test,” Won said Tuesday, the defense ministry confirmed to NK News.

Nuclear tests reflect “various strategic objectives,” and the DPRK