Battle-ready: Battkeships from S. Korea, the US and Japan in formation during a joint exercise in international waters off Jeju. — AP
THE hermit kingdom denounced a US aircraft carrier’s visit to South Korea, calling it a provocation that could bring “catastrophic circumstances”.
The nuclear-powered Ronald Reagan and its strike group arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Thursday for a five-day visit, after allied exercises in nearby waters, in a show of force against North Korea.
The aircraft carrier’s visit showed that a US scheme for a nuclear attack on North Korea had reached “the most serious phase”, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said, adding this meant “the outbreak of a nuclear war comes to the fore”.
“It is an undisguised military provocation driving the situation to catastrophic circumstances,” KCNA said in a commentary.
US and South Korean forces have been staging intensified military exercises this year, involving US aircraft carriers, submarines and advanced bombers, in order, they say, to better respond to evolving North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
North Korea calls the drills a rehearsal for invasion. KCNA said that in case of an imminent nuclear attack, North Korea would take “necessary action”, as enshrined in its nuclear doctrine, to “thoroughly deter and repel US and its stooges’ frantic moves to ignite a nuclear war”.
Our “most powerful and rapid first strike will be given to the ‘extended deterrence’ means, used by the US to hallucinate its followers,” KCNA said.
The term “extended deterrence” means the ability of the US military, particularly its nuclear forces, to deter attacks on allies.
Officials from the US, Japan and South Korea will discuss North Korean matters in a meeting in the Indonesian capital on Tuesday, Japan’s foreign ministry said. — Reuters
