The United States and South Korea warned North Korea on Friday that the use of any kind of nuclear weapon against Seoul or other regional allies would result in the end of Kim Jong-un’s regime.
The position of the two states comes at a time when Pyongyang has increased ballistic missile tests on the Korean peninsula.
After meeting at the Pentagon today, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup issued a joint statement saying they “strongly condemned” North Korea’s military escalation.
In Washington, both leaders insisted that any use of nuclear weapons, including low-yield tactical nuclear devices against Seoul or other regional allies such as Japan, “would result in the end of the Kim Jong-un regime through overwhelming and decisive alliance’s response. ” Lee said at a joint news conference with Austin.
The US Secretary of State for Defense also said North Korea’s increased aggression will not result in additional US troops or strategic assets in the region permanently, but rather a temporary military presence.
Tensions between the United States and North Korea have also increased with recently released reports that it is supplying artillery for Russia to use against Ukraine.
In response to the missile launches, the United States extended the “Storm Watcher” military exercise, which was scheduled to last until Friday.
“Our combined air exercise with ROK [Forças Armadas da Coreia do Sul] has been extended until November 5 [sábado]. We remain in close coordination with our ally the Republic of Korea on any further changes and in the security environment on the Korean Peninsula. Our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea is firm”, the Pentagon stressed in an ‘e-mail’ sent to the US press.
Large-scale military exercises between the United States and South Korea resumed this year.
“Storm Watchman,” involving more than 1,600 US and South Korean flights in some 240 fighter jets, is the largest such exercise to date, according to the Pentagon.
North Korea has launched more than 20 missiles in the past two days in response to US and South Korean military exercises that began on Monday.
Ballistic tests carried out on Wednesday included at least 23 missiles as well as around 100 artillery shells that were fired into an eastern maritime buffer zone.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said at least two ballistic missiles showed a possibly “irregular” trajectory.
Source: TSF
