SEOUL: North Korea has threatened to launch nuclear strikes at the United States and its military bases in Northeast Asia. The threat comes after the US and South Korea began one of their annual large-scale joint military exercises.
Thousands of American Marines and other troops arrived in South Korea in for the exercise. The troops include 17,000 American and 300,000 South Korean troops. The drill is to test the allies' capabilities to respond to North Korean attacks on the Korean Peninsula. This isn't the first time the Kim-ruled region has staged threats to the west. The country has always considered the exercises as rehearsals for invasion. However, things have taken a turn for the worse after North's recent nuclear tests. In its statement, North Korea threatened to launch “all-out offensive” and “pre-emptive” nuclear strikes against “US imperialist aggressor forces bases in the Asia-Pacific region and the US mainland,” the country's top governing agency, National Defense Commission said.
Last month, the South Korean Defence Ministry announced that this year's drills would be the largest ever. Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John C Stennis will join the exercises, both, America and South Korea militaries said in a joint statement. “If we push the buttons to annihilate the enemies even right now, all bases of provocations will be reduced to seas in flames and ashes in a moment,” the statement read. Responding, South Korea said, “North Korea must stop its rash and reckless behaviour. We will respond resolutely and mercilessly if the North ignores our warning and attempts a provocation,” Moon Sang-gyun, Defense Ministry spokesman said.
South officials and analysts said Kim Jong-un is using the threats of war to consolidate support around his leadership and extract concessions from the Norths' adversaries. North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched its long-range rocket a month later. The United Nations Security Council adopted a new round of tougher sanctions aimed at curbing the North's nuclear program, last week.
