North Korea threatens nuclear retaliation over US shows of army power

By Reuters: North Korea stated on Thursday deployment of US plane carriers, bombers or missile submarines in South Korea may meet standards for its use of nuclear weapons, state media KCNA reported, citing the nation’s defence minister, Kang Sun Nam.

The feedback elevate the stakes as both sides steps up shows of army power in a standoff over the remoted nation’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

The defence minister’s assertion additionally accused the United States and South Korea of escalating tensions within the area whereas criticizing the primary assembly by their Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG).

“The ever-increasing visibility of the deployment of the strategic nuclear submarine and other strategic assets may fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons specified in the DPRK law,” the assertion stated.

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DPRK is brief for the North’s official identify, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kang’s comment was aimed on the nuclear-armed Ohio-class US ballistic missile submarine that arrived at a port within the southern metropolis of Busan earlier this week.

“The phase of a military clash on the Korean peninsula has surfaced as a dangerous reality,” the KCNA report stated.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense stated on Friday the NCG assembly and the deployment of the USS Kentucky had been “just defensive countermeasures” towards the North’s nuclear and missile threats.

“North Korea will get no concessions from the South Korea-U.S. alliance for its nuclear development and threats which will only lead to worsening isolation and hardships,” the South Korean ministry stated in an announcement.

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The KCNA report got here after a US soldier crossed the border into North Korea on Tuesday at a time of heightened stress between the 2 Koreas and the United States.

North Korea has but to touch upon the incident involving the U.S. soldier.

Last yr, the reclusive state codified a brand new, expansive nuclear regulation declaring its standing as a nuclear-armed state “irreversible”.

That nuclear regulation outlined a “capacious” set of circumstances beneath which North Korea may resort to nuclear use, and so they’re indicating that they see this submarine go to as in step with these situations, stated Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“More broadly, though, I think they’re seeking to dissuade Washington from regularizing additional shows of reassurance of this nature for the South Koreans,” Panda stated.

READ | US, Japan, South Korea, condemn North Korean missile launch in joint assertion