PYONG YONG: North Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday warned of "more powerful follow-up measures" in retaliation for the United States' decision to increase joint military exercises with South Korea, which it claims are exercises for potential aggression.
The ministry's announcement coincided with aerial exercises by the US and South Korea involving more than 200 warplanes, including their state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jets, as they responded to North Korea's increasing weapons testing and growing nuclear threat. I raised my defense posture.
With the launch of more than 40 ballistic missiles this year—a development intercontinental ballistic missile and an intermediate-range missile fired at Japan—North Korea has raised the scale of its weapons display to unprecedented levels.
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These tests are followed by the North's growing nuclear doctrine, which allows for preemptive nuclear strikes in poorly defined crisis situations.
Large-scale military exercises between the US and South Korea have resumed this year or were halted in previous years because of the pandemic and efforts to open diplomatic channels with Pyongyang.
After South Korea ended its annual 12-day "Hoguk" field exercise, which officials said included an unknown number of US troops, the United States and South Korea began their joint air force exercise, "Vigilant Storm". of which, which are scheduled, will run till Friday.
The most recent announcement from North Korea came just days after the country stepped up a series of launches that began in late September by launching two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea. The North has described some of those launches as practice nuclear strikes on US and South Korean targets.
According to North Korea, its nuclear and missile tests act as a warning amid joint military exercises. However, some experts say Pyongyang has also used the exercise as an opportunity to test new weapons, improve its nuclear capability, and take advantage of future talks with Washington and Seoul.
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The United States was revealed by military exercises as "the main culprit in destroying peace and security," according to remarks by an unnamed spokesman in a statement by North Korea's foreign ministry. It announced that the North was ready to take "all necessary measures" to protect itself from military threats from outside.
The spokesman said the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is North Korea's official name, would consider more powerful follow-up measures if the US continues to engage in serious military provocations. What those possible measures could be was not specified in the statement.
North Korea could move forward in the coming weeks, igniting its first nuclear test device since September 2017, according to South Korean officials. This could potentially move the nation closer to its objectives of developing a fully-functional nuclear arsenal that is capable of endangering nearby US allies and the US mainland.
North Korea has in recent weeks fired a large number of shells into the Inter-Korean Maritime Buffer Zone, which the two Koreas established in 2018 to ease military tensions on the frontline.
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According to North Korea, the shooting was a response to live-fire exercises by South Korea along the land border. Along its disputed western maritime border, which has seen bloodshed and naval battles in the past, rival Korea exchanged warning shots on October 24 as they accused each other of border violations.