South Korean government officials have set forth a plan to protect its nation from North Korea’s nuclear threats.
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South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo revealed the information in parliament on Thursday, saying that a special forces unit is already on standby.
North Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Ri Yong Ho ardently attacked the United States at the podium of the UN General Assembly Friday, accusing Washington of “extremely unsafe aggression” and “constant nuclear threats”.
NEW YORK-The planned USA deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea is not negotiable as part of efforts to agree new United Nations sanctions on North Korea after its fifth nuclear test, but Washington is confident tougher steps will be agreed before long, the senior US diplomat for Asia said on Friday.
He also accused the U.N. Security Council of double-standards, saying the global security body takes issue only with the North’s nuclear and missile tests while remaining silent about such weapons tests by other nations.
“As long as there exists a nuclear weapon state in hostile relations with the DPRK (North Korea), our national security and the peace on the Korean peninsula can be defended only with reliable nuclear deterrence”, he said.
“South Korea has a general idea and plan to use precision missile capabilities to target the enemy’s facilities in major areas, as well as eliminating the enemy’s leadership”, he said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, meeting Southeast Asian leaders in NY on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, said the United States would “do whatever is necessary to defend our own citizens and to honor our security commitments to our allies”.
“US imperialists and the Park Geun Hye group of traitors should not forget even [for] a moment that our revolutionary armed forces are ready to fight a decisive battle to thoroughly foil the reckless military moves for… a preemptive strike at the North”, a spokesperson for the Korean People’s Army said, reported IBT Times.
Ri claimed that B-1B bombers the USA military flew over South Korea earlier this week crossed the demarcation line separating the two Koreas. One of the bombers landed at Osan Air Base Pyeongtaek, located roughly 25 miles from Seoul. North Korea said such actions would serve as a pretext for war on the Korean Peninsula.
He accused the United States and South Korea of conducting massive “nuclear war exercises” aimed at “decapitation” of the North Korean leadership and occupation of its capital Pyongyang, while a call a year ago by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to replace the 1953 Korean War armistice with a peace agreement had been ignored.
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Ri also said that nuclear armament is now the “policy of our state”. “We will sternly and strongly retaliate if provoked”, the statement added.
