In response to the start of annual military drills involving the US and South Korea, North Korea threatened to turn Seoul and Washington into “a heap of ashes with a pre-emptive nuclear strike” – if they showed any signs of aggression toward the North’s territory.
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Traditionally, North Korea has waged a campaign to establish high moral standards among its people, particularly younger generations, so that the “decadent bourgeois lifestyle” of imperialists would not make headway in North Korean society.
South Korean protesters stage a rally demanding to stop the joint military exercises, Ulchi Freedom Guardian, near US Embassy in Seoul on August 22, 2016. -South Korean military exercises.
In response to Pyongyang’s threat, South Korea expressed regret and encouraged the DPRK to cease any nuclear ambitions.
The latest exercises come as tensions are high on the peninsula.
-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. It also cautioned that the “situation on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out any moment”.
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 North’s military said in a statement Monday that it will turn Seoul and Washington into “a heap of ashes through a Korean-style pre-emptive nuclear strike” if they show any signs of aggression toward the North’s territory. But South Korean media say no land mines are allowed near the Panmunjom truce village under the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
The document also addressed problems related to North Korea’s supply of drinking water, and noted the shortage of foreign currency is causing problems in everyday life.
As a long-time North Korean ally, China has criticized the war games.
Pyongyang continues to develop nuclear weapons despite punitive global sanctions that are among the most extensive ever imposed on a nation. The secretive nature of North Korea and its nuclear program mean that experts are not entirely sure how well developed Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons are. However it looks as though efforts were wound down in July.
The defections signal a “serious fracture” within the North Korea’s regime, escalating the prospects of provocation as Kim tries to maintain control, Park said.
Quoting a survey of North Korean escapees, the ministry noted that economic hardship was the No. 1 factor that drove defectors, but now more North Korean defectors leave the country because they are fed up with the North’s leader Kim Jong-un and its system.
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The defection prompted North Korea to issue a statement calling Thae Yong Ho a criminal.
