N Korea Ready for Nuke Attack, Blasts US «Military Hysteria & Aggression» in Syria
Local Editor
North Korea warned the US not to take provocative action in the region, saying it is "ready to hit back with nuclear attacks".
The comments came as North Korea marked the 105th anniversary of the birth of its founding president, Kim Il-sung.
Soldiers, tanks and other military hardware were paraded in Pyongyang in a show of strength on Saturday.
It comes amid speculation that the current leader, Kim Jong-un, could order another nuclear test.
"We're prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war," North Korean military official Choe Ryong-Hae said, adding: "We are ready to hit back with nuclear attacks of our own style against any nuclear attacks."
North Korea staged an extravagant display of military strength at Saturday's parade amid concern that mounting tensions in the region could lead to a conflict with the US.
Rows of military bands and columns of troops marched into Pyongyang's main Kim Il-sung square in the heart of the city.
On display for the first time were what appeared to be submarine-launched ballistic missiles [SLBMs], which could be developed to house nuclear warheads capable of reaching targets around the world.
With concerns that the state is getting closer to successfully producing a nuclear arsenal, Saturday's parade was an opportunity for Kim to broadcast North Korea's current military capabilities.
The event made clear how vital the state's nuclear program is to its future ambitions as it continues to ignore growing pressure from the US to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
Tensions are high after the US military recently ordered a navy strike group to move towards the Korean peninsula.
North Korea had conducted five nuclear tests and a series of missile launches. Experts and government officials believe it is working to develop nuclear-warhead missiles that can reach the US.
Recently, US President Donald Trump demonstrated his willingness to resort to military methods. He ordered a cruise missile attack on Syria.
Pyongyang had called the US cruise-missile strike against Syria a war crime, urging Washington to stop its "military hysteria" and come to its "senses" - or otherwise face a merciless response in case of any provocations against North Korea.
"The US should be punished according to international law as its military attack on Syria was an undisguised act of aggression and war crime," a spokesman for the Korean Jurists Committee said in a statement cited by KCNA.
Simultaneously, on Friday, a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army [KPA] issued a statement claiming that following the unilateral strike against Syria, Donald Trump's "serious military hysteria" has reached a dangerous phase where the DPRK will be forced to respond against the US and its allies in such a "merciless manner as not to allow the aggressors to survive."
"The US used aggression and war as a lever for carrying out its policy in disregard of international law. It made missile attacks on the countries incurring its disfavor in wanton violation of their sovereignty," the statement by North Korean lawyers added.
"The international community should never tolerate the US attack on Syria but mete out a due punishment to the harasser of peace," it added.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
