Pyongyang [North Korea], April 7: North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency yesterday published an editorial condemning the US and South Korea for pushing tensions to the brink of nuclear war through joint drills using strategic weapons.
US and South Korean forces have conducted a series of annual exercises since March, including exercises involving aircraft carriers as well as B-1B and B- bombers. 52, according to Reuters.
In an editorial, ChoeJu-hyon, who has been called an international security analyst for North Korea, warned that "the exercises have turned the Korean peninsula into a giant gunpowder that could explode " anytime". He also wrote that the United States and South Korea have exceeded the limits of North Korea's tolerance and that it will respond by exercising its war deterrence through "offensive action". North Korea has ramped up its military activity in recent weeks, unveiling new nuclear warheads and testing nuclear-capable drones.
Meanwhile, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said yesterday that North Korea is ready to conduct a nuclear test at any time, according to Yonhap. If it happens, North Korea's new nuclear test could be designed to "verify the final technology" needed for the mass production and deployment of nuclear warheads, according to South Korea's defense ministry.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper