North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has accused the United States of “knowingly” escalating tensions by staging joint aerial maneuvers with South Korea, “despite our repeated warnings”, the official agency reported on Tuesday. North Korean KCNA received in Seoul.
“The recent joint air exercises (…) clearly show that the plan to use nuclear weapons against the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is proceeding at the pace of a real war,” the ministry said in a statement. press release dated Monday.
Defensive maneuvers that exacerbate tensions
On Friday, North Korea announced that it had fired cruise missiles the day before, saying that the intensification of US-South Korean military exercises “can be considered a declaration of war”.
Read also: North Korea fires two missiles, in response to joint military exercises by Seoul and Washington
This statement came after the two allies conducted a simulation exercise in Washington of a nuclear conflict with North Korea. The United States and South Korea have explained that the future joint maneuvers were defensive, but Pyongyang sees it as a repetition of an invasion.
“We deeply regret the irresponsible and disturbing actions of the United States and South Korea, which constantly push the situation on the Korean Peninsula towards instability,” according to the ministry quoted by KCNA. North Korea calls for “an immediate halt to hostile military actions that disturb peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” the statement said.
“If the dangerous military provocations by the United States and South Korea continue…there is no guarantee that there will not be a violent confrontation on the Korean peninsula where huge armies make a tense face-to-face.”
