The United States and South Korea kicked off annual military exercises on Monday, prompting warnings of retaliation from the North, as already-heightened tension on the peninsula has been inflamed by the defection of a Pyongyang diplomat.
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North Korea was informed of the drills by the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission and was told of their “non-provocative nature”, according to the statement.
The North’s “first-strike” units are ready to mount retaliatory attacks on South Korean and US forces involved in the drills, according to the statement, carried by Pyongyang’s state media.
“The nuclear warmongers should bear in mind that if they show the slightest sign of aggression, it would turn the stronghold of provocation into a heap of ashes through a Korean-style preemptive nuclear strike”.
-South Korean drills. As The Two-Way has reported, North Korea warned of a “pre-emptive nuclear strike of justice” during military exercises in March. Of the USA troops, about 2,500 are coming from off the peninsula.
This year’s manoeuvres, known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian, will run over a course of 12 days.
The training involves 25,000 American troops and 50,000 South Korean soldiers, according to the US and South Korean militaries.
On Sunday, a South Korean Unification Ministry official said its neighbour could resort to assassinations and kidnappings in revenge for recent defections.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye said Monday that there were signs of “serious cracks” in the North’s ruling elite class after defections of key figures she didn’t identity.
“It is highly likely that North Korea will make various attempts to prevent further defections and unrest among its people”.
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South Korean military has since been put on high alert and would “vigorously strike back” in the event of any hostile action. Last week, South Korea announced that Thae Yong Ho, the North’s deputy ambassador in London, had defected and arrived in the South with his family, in an embarrassing blow to the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Pyongyang often accuses the South of deceiving or paying its citizens to defect, or claims that they have simply been kidnapped. Once Kim Jong-un came to power, there’s been an average of 8.9 provocations (such as missile and nuclear tests) each year.
