New warning from Pyongyang. Any interception of missiles North Korea is testing over the Pacific Ocean during the upcoming joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises “will be seen as a clear declaration of war against the DPRK.” [République populaire démocratique de Corée] “, warned Kim Yo-jong, the very powerful sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the address of Washington, quoted Tuesday by the official North Korean agency KCNA.
“The Pacific Ocean is not under the domination of the United States or Japan,” she insisted, as the United States and neighboring South Korea prepare to carry out their most important military maneuvers since 2018. North Korea “always stands ready to take appropriate, prompt and overwhelming action at any time”, she warned, calling recent military exercises by Washington and Seoul “extremely frantic “.
In addition to the “Ulchi Freedom Shield” maneuvers between US and South Korean forces that will begin on March 13 for at least 10 days, Washington and Seoul held joint air exercises this week with a nuclear-capable US B-52 heavy bomber.
Instability on the Korean Peninsula
Washington and Seoul say they are defense exercises, but Pyongyang sees them as dress rehearsals for an invasion of its territory or an overthrow of its regime. North Korea’s foreign minister on Tuesday accused the United States of “intentionally” raising tensions in the region.
“The recent joint air exercises (…) clearly show that the plan to use nuclear weapons against the DPRK is proceeding at the pace of a real war,” he denounced, in a separate press release.
“We deeply regret the irresponsible and disturbing moves by the United States and South Korea, which constantly push the situation on the Korean Peninsula towards instability,” the ministry said, also quoted by KCNA.
Relationships at a standstill
As relations between Pyongyang and Seoul are at their lowest for several years, South Korea and the United States have decided to intensify their joint exercises and redeploy American strategic resources in the region.
These exercises inevitably arouse the ire of neighboring North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently called for an “exponential” increase in the production of North Korean weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons, and his sister described the Pacific as the “firing range” of his country.
On Sunday, Pyongyang called on the United Nations to demand that Seoul and Washington end their joint military maneuvers, saying its nuclear weapons guaranteed the balance of power in the region.