Washington: President Joe Biden threatened to obliterate the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the event of a nuclear attack while criticising the US for its "extreme" and "hostile" policies, prompting North Korea to accuse him of "senility" and other charges. The remarks came after Biden's most recent meeting with his South Korean counterpart, during which he pledged to increase the two countries' nuclear cooperation.
Kim Yo-jong, a senior North Korean official and the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, harshly denounced Washington and Seoul on Friday, highlighting remarks made by Vice President Joe Biden after their meeting this week in the US capital with the president of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol.
In a joint press conference with Yoon, Biden stressed the need to "reinforce extended deterrence and respond to the advancing DPRK nuclear threat" and stated that a nuclear attack by North Korea would "result in the end of whatever regime" is in charge there.
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Biden's "threatening rhetoric" would one day result in a response from Pyongyang, according to Kim, who suggested that the statement was an indication of "the man's senility."
As it is too much for him to complete the remaining two years of his office term, she continued, "it may be taken as a nonsensical remark from the person in his dotage who is not at all capable of taking the responsibility for security and the future of the US, an old man with no future.
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The North Korean party official also mentioned the US and South Korea's establishment of a new "Nuclear Consultative Group" (NGC), which aims to "strengthen extended deterrence" and improve collaboration on nuclear planning.
The establishment of the "Nuclear Consultative Group," the ongoing deployment of US nuclear strategic assets, and the regular military drills between Washington and Seoul have all contributed to the environment in which we find ourselves today."
Biden and Yoon announced that the US would send nuclear-capable submarines and bombers to the Korean Peninsula as part of increased military coordination between Washington and Seoul in the hopes that this would deter the DPRK from conducting further nuclear and missile tests.
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In recent months, North Korea has launched an unprecedented number of missiles, claiming that this is in response to the ongoing military exercises in the area by the US and South Korea. Although US officials maintain that the exercises are purely defensive, Pyongyang has repeatedly denounced them as invasion drills.