North Korea on Monday threatened to launch preemptive attacks against the United States and South Korea in response to the two allies’ revamped strategy for deterring weapons-of-mass-destruction strikes by Pyongyang, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
Seoul and Washington last week announced they had reached agreement on a new plan for handling nuclear and other WMD provocations by the North. The allies also agreed to work to improve the interoperability of their respective militaries, particularly their missile-defense systems, in order to improve responses to North Korean threats.
The North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea in a statement warned the “military plot aims to derail … dialogue on the Korean Peninsula and can fuel tensions that can lead to a nuclear conflict.”
“If our enemies try to threaten us in the slightest, the country will launch ruthless preemptive strikes of annihilation,” the North said.
Pyongyang also is upset over plans for Japan, South Korea and the United States to hold trilateral maritime exercises this week.
This past spring when Pyongyang warned of preemptive attacks and nuclear war against the United States and South Korea, it caused regional tensions to skyrocket to one of their highest points in decades.
North Korea reiterated its stance it would maintain its nuclear weapons program so long as it perceived a hostile threat from the United States.
The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea in a Saturday statement insisted that “to fairly resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, the United States’ nuclear threat … must be removed … and the U.S. forces in South Korea must withdraw with its nuclear weapons,” Yonhap separately reported.
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North Korea Threatens Preemptive Attack on U.S., South Korea
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