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North Korea accuses joint US-South Korean military maneuvers of pushing tensions on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war. Photos/NDTV
SEOUL – North Korea (North Korea) on Thursday accused the United States (US) and South Korea (South Korea) of escalating tensions to the brink nuclear war through joint military exercises involving US strategic assets.
KCNA, North Korea’s state media, released comments by Choe Ju Hyon, who it called an international security analyst, criticizing the joint military exercises as a trigger to push the situation on the Korean peninsula to an “explosion point”.
“The hysteria of the US military confrontation and its reckless followers against the DPRK pushed the situation on the Korean peninsula to irreversible disaster… to the brink of nuclear war,” KCNA wrote in its report, Thursday (6/4/2023).
DPRK is an abbreviation of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“Now the international community unanimously hopes that the dark clouds of nuclear war hanging over the Korean peninsula will be removed at the earliest possible time,” the report continued.
US and South Korean forces have conducted a series of annual spring drills since March, including air and sea drills involving US carriers and B-1B and B-52 bombers, and their first large-scale amphibious landing exercise in five years.
North Korea reacted strongly to the drills, calling them a rehearsal for invasion.
The KCNA report called the participation of the B-1B and B-52 bombers aimed at inciting confrontation, saying: “The US is showing its true disgusting colors as the main reason for escalating tensions.”
It also said the allies had crossed the “limits of tolerance” and Pyongyang would respond by carrying out its war prevention through “offensive measures”.
“The exercise has turned the Korean peninsula into a large powder magazine which can be detonated at any time,” KCNA added.
North Korea has stepped up its military activities in recent weeks, showing off new, smaller nuclear warheads, promising to produce more weapons-grade nuclear material and testing so-called nuclear-capable underwater attack drones.
Last month, North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking anywhere in the US, calling it a response to an allied exercise.
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