North Korea’s foreign ministry has accused the United States of “deliberately” escalating tensions through recent joint air military exercises with South Korea, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday. TASR informs on the basis of a report by the AFP agency.
“Despite our repeated warnings, the United States is deliberately continuing to worsen the situation,” the DPRK’s foreign ministry said in a statement dated Monday.
North Korea’s statement comes after Seoul and Washington announced on Friday large-scale joint military exercises to be held from March 13 to 23. South Korea’s defense ministry also released a video online Monday that it said showed warplanes from both countries conducting joint exercises off the coast of the Korean peninsula.
“The recent joint air exercise… clearly shows that the US scheme to use nuclear weapons against the DPRK is moving further to the level of actual war,” the North Korean Ministry of Diplomacy said in a statement in this regard.
Kim Jo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, also warned on Tuesday that the DPRK is ready to take “overwhelming” steps against the military activities of the United States and Seoul, South Korea’s Jonhap news agency reported. As she also added, North Korea will consider any an attempt by the US to intercept a missile it fires as a “clear declaration of war”.
Repeated American-South Korean maneuvers are described by North Korea as preparation for an invasion of the north of the Korean Peninsula and as proof of the hostile policy of Washington and Seoul towards Pyongyang. The DPRK often responds to such exercises by launching rockets, aircraft flyovers or artillery fire.
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