North Korea: Tension Reached Brink of Nuclear War!

By Staff, Agencies 

North Korea has accused the United States and South Korea of escalating tensions “to the brink of nuclear war” through their joint military drills and promised to respond with “offensive action.”

A commentary published by the state channel, KCNA, on Thursday criticized the continuing drills as “a trigger for driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the point of explosion.”

Attributed to Choe Ju Hyon, an international security analyst, the article added: “The reckless military confrontational hysteria of the US and its followers against the DPRK is driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to an irreversible catastrophe … to the brink of a nuclear war.”

DPRK is the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the formal name for North Korea.
“Now the international community unanimously hopes that the dark clouds of a nuclear war hanging over the Korean peninsula will be removed as early as possible,” it added.

The commentary singled out the involvement of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier as aimed at stoking confrontation, saying Pyongyang will respond to the drills by exercising its war deterrence through “offensive action.”

“The drills have turned the Korean peninsula into a huge powder magazine which can be detonated any moment,” it added.

North Korea views such exercises as a rehearsal for invasion.

Pyongyang carried out a record number of weapons tests last year and has been ramping up its military activity in recent weeks. It has unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads, fired its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile – the Hwasong 17 – and tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone that is under development. It also fired cruise missiles from a submarine.