North Korea threatened on Monday to take “physical action” after Washington and Seoul announced they would deploy a sophisticated United States anti-missile defence system to counter the growing menace from Pyongyang.
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North Korea has announced that it will sever the only channel of communication it has with the United States and hinted at harsher punishments for American detainees in the country in retaliation to Washington’s decision to blacklist leader Kim Jong-un for human rights abuses.
The move to deploy the THAAD system came after the United States blacklisted North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un for human rights abuses.
The US and South Korea said the anti-missile system will be used to counter North Korea’s growing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.
On Monday, the North’s state media said it told the United States it will terminate contact through a U.N. channel in NY that allowed diplomats to communicate. Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, was sentenced in March to 15 years of hard labor for trying to steal an item with a propaganda slogan and Korean-American Kim Dong Chul is serving a 10-year sentence for espionage, according to North Korean state media.
“We once again warn the enemies that it is the steadfast will of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to make merciless retaliatory strikes to reduce South Korea to a sea of flames and debris once an order is issued”, the military’s artillery bureau was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
It will handle all matters, including any discussions about two Americans it has detained, under wartime laws, it said.
All matters related to the United States, including the handling of USA citizens detained by Pyongyang, will be conducted under its “wartime law”, its official KCNA news agency said.
According to officials within North Korea, the isolated nation will be taking “practical actions” against the U.S.in response to the United State’s refusal to withdraw the recent sanctions against Kim.
The North’s threat, carried in state media, was typical of past bluster.
The US has maintained a significant troop presence of round 28,500 troops in South Korea, after the Korean War (1950-53), which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the divided peninsula still technically at war.
The announcement comes as Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test this year, and launched a long-range rocket.
The North said it will take an unspecified “physical counter-action” as soon as the THAAD location is announced.
The latest ballistic missile test by Pyongyang took place late last week when a missile was sacked from a submarine off the coast of the port city of Sinpo.
Moon Sang-guyn, a spokesman for South Korea’s Defense Ministry, warned the North to not take “rash and foolish action”.
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, said on Saturday that THAAD exceeded the Korean peninsula’s security needs and suggested there was a “conspiracy behind this move”.
The move to deploy THAAD also drew a swift and sharp protest from China.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said the THAAD system was not meant to target any third country.
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It frequently threatens attacks against the South and the U.S. in Asia and the Pacific, according to Reuters.
