North Korea threatened on Saturday to respond with nuclear deterrence to a US-South Korean war games starting Sunday, stating it was prepared for a “retaliatory sacred war”.
The threat was issued by the National Defence Commission (NDC), as tensions escalated over the sinking of a warship belonging to South Korea which Washington and Seoul blame on North Korea, despite the strong voices of doubt coming form within South Korea.
“All these war manoeuvres are nothing but outright provocations aimed to stifle the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea by force of arms to all intents and purposes,” the NDC said in a statement on Pyongyang’s official news agency.
“The army and people of the DPRK will legitimately counter with their powerful nuclear deterrence the largest-ever nuclear war exercises to be staged by the US and the South Korean puppet forces.”
The exercise “is as reckless an act as waking up a sleeping tiger”, it said insinuating that the military exercises were a training for a nuclear war.
The North’s people and army would “start a retaliatory sacred war of their own style based on nuclear deterrent any time necessary” to counter the US and South Korea, which were pushing the situation to the brink of war, it said.
8,000 U.S. military personell are scheduled to take part in military exercises with South Korea starting Sunday. In addition to the 8,000 personnel involved, military officials say, 20 ships and submarines as well as 200 aircraft and the aircraft carrier USS George Washington will also participate.
China has voiced strong objection to the war games in the Yellow Sea, so close to its coastline.
Related news articles:
and so begins the escalation of words and acts. lets hope the chinese and americans remember that this prohibitve posture opens pandoras box.
the cost of armed conflict is devestation to the region. it last for years?
with a poisoned ecology that threatens every living thing, war pollutes, war
destroys, and every war is a war against life.
Let’s hope N.K has the balls to finally put an end to this American arrogance once and for all!
The US is the only country on earth which has ever used N. weapons. It’s time someone gives them a piece of their own medicine.