SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has accused the US and South Korea of expanding joint military exercises involving US nuclear assets, demanding the country be ready for a nuclear attack at any time to prevent war. Hoye, state media’s CNA said on Monday.
Kim’s comments came as the isolated country held drills, JEE News said, aimed at bolstering its “combat deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability” to send stern warnings against allies on Saturday and Sunday.
In the exercises, a ballistic missile armed with a mock nuclear warhead flew 800 kilometers (497 miles) before landing at an altitude of 800 meters (0.5 miles) in a tactical nuclear attack scenario, JEE News said.
Kim, who oversaw the test, said the exercises improved the military’s actual combat capability and the need to ensure its readiness position for any “immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack” through such exercises. Highlighted
JEE News quoted him as saying that “under the current situation, in which the adversaries are becoming more obvious in their moves for aggression against the DPRK, the DPRK urgently needs to step up its nuclear war deterrence.”
Kim was using an acronym for his country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The DPRK’s nuclear force, with its high combat readiness, will firmly deter, control and manage the enemy’s recklessness and provocations, and carry out its mission in the event of any untoward situation,” he added. Will do without any hesitation.”
JEE News photos showed Kim re-attending the test with her young daughter, as the missile erupted in flames before it hit the target.
South Korea and Japan on Sunday reported the launch of a North Korean short-range ballistic missile off the east coast, the latest in a series of missile tests in recent weeks.
North Korea has strongly reacted to the joint military exercises of South Korea and the United States, calling them an attack exercise against it.
The allies have been carrying out a number of their annual exercises since earlier this month, including air and sea exercises by US B-1B strategic bombers on Sunday.
The U.S. and South Korean navies and Marine Corps are scheduled to begin their first large-scale Ssangyong amphibious landing exercise in five years on Monday, lasting two weeks until April 3.
Last month, the two countries held table-top exercises simulating a North Korean nuclear attack, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yul called on the U.S. to expand deterrence — its military capability, particularly nuclear forces, against attacks on its allies. Called for more confidence to stop.
In another dispatch, JEE News said more than 1.4 million North Koreans had voluntarily joined or re-enlisted in the army to fight against Seoul and Washington, just two days before a state-run newspaper reported. According to about 800,000 more.
