Seoul and Washington had on Friday revealed their decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the South following recent North Korean missile and nuclear tests.
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Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency, using its typical bellicose style, said Monday “It is the unwavering will of our army to deal a ruthless retaliatory strike and turn (the South) into a sea of fire and a pile of ashes the moment we have an order to carry it out”.
“There will be physical response measures from us as soon as the location and time that the invasionary tool for United States world supremacy, THAAD, will be brought into South Korea are confirmed”, the North’s military said in a statement.
The move to deploy the THAAD system also drew a swift and sharp protest from China.
The North’s foreign ministry notified the U.S. government that it would effectively halt all communications with Washington through the North’s office at the United Nations in NY, state-run KCNA said.
North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket the following month, resulting in tough new United Nations sanctions.
North Korea said Monday it would close one of the last remaining channels of communication with the USA in protest at sanctions on leader Kim Jong-Un for human rights abuses.
FILE – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during the first congress of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party in 36 years, in Pyongyang, May 6, 2016.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry had previously warned that the sanctions were the “the worst hostile act” possible and “an open declaration of war”, and the North would retaliate with the “toughest countermeasures.” . This is needed because the countries don’t have diplomatic ties and their animosities have deepened because of the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
On Saturday, the North test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine, but it appeared to have failed after launch.
Saturday’s launch followed Pyongyang’s back-to-back tests of powerful new medium-range Musudan missiles on June 22 – theoretically capable of reaching USA bases as far away as Guam.
The planned deployment of the powerful anti-missile system has angered the South’s neighbours including China, which said Friday the move would “seriously damage” regional security in northeast Asia.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye however defended the move as a “purely defensive” action aimed at protecting the South.
“I’m certain the worldwide community knows full well that we have no intention whatsoever to target any other country or threaten them”, Park said at a meeting with her senior advisers, according to the Blue House.
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An area near the southeastern city of Daegu has been selected for the deployment, South Korean media reported on Wednesday.
