North Korea said Thursday it was prepared to counter US military moves with “more overwhelming nuclear force,” warning of escalating tensions over military exercises in Washington and Seoul.
The statement from the Pyongyang Foreign Ministry came in response to comments by the US Secretary of Defense, who was visiting Seoul.
On Tuesday, Lloyd Austin said Washington would increase shipments of military equipment to the Korean peninsula, including fighter jets and aircraft carriers, as joint training with South Korea increases.
Nervousness over South Korea’s security has grown since neighboring North Korea tested dozens of missiles in 2022, including potentially nuclear missiles designed to hit targets in South Korea and the United States.
An unnamed spokesperson for the North Korean Foreign Ministry was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying that the expansion of allied exercises threatens to turn the Korean peninsula into a “huge arsenal of warfare and a more critical war zone.” “.
The statement stressed that Pyongyang was prepared to meet any short- or long-term military challenge from allies with the “most overwhelming nuclear force.”
“The military and political situation on the Korean peninsula and the region has reached an extreme red line due to reckless military maneuvers and hostile acts by US and vassal forces,” the spokesman said.
South Korea and the United States held joint air exercises on Wednesday, involving a B-1B strategic bomber and F-22 and F-35B stealth fighters from the US air force, the South Korean Defense Ministry said today.
“The joint air exercises demonstrate the United States’ willingness and ability to provide a broad, strong, and credible deterrent against North Korean nuclear and missile threats,” the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The exercises, the first between Seoul and Washington in 2023, were held in the Yellow Sea (called the West Sea in the two Koreas), to “promote the joint operational capabilities” of the two countries, also involving F-fighters. 35A from South Korea. .
Source: TSF
