North Korea threatens nuclear war

By Kang Seung-woo

North Korea said Thursday that it is ready to launch a “sacred” war against South Korea on the basis of its nuclear deterrent.

The North’s warning came amid lingering tension on the Korean Peninsula after Seoul staged live-fire exercises on the border island of Yeonpyeong with the apparent aim of deterring North Korea, which shelled the island earlier, at a range south of the border and in the East Sea.

Kim Young-chun, minister of the People’s Armed Forces, gave the warning while reading a report during a ceremony in Pyongyang marking the 19th anniversary of leader Kim Jong-il gaining supreme command of the Korean People’s Army (KPA).

“The revolutionary armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are fully poised to launch a sacred war of justice of Korean style based on our nuclear deterrent at any time necessary to cope with the enemies’ actions,” Kim was quoted by the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying.

Kim criticized South Korean forces for having perpetrated military provocations such as shelling North Korea during the recent exercises aimed at a war of aggression in the West Sea.

After North Korea’s deadly artillery shelling of Yeonpyeong Island along the border on Nov. 23, which killed four people including two civilians, the South staged its largest-scale air and ground exercise near the tense Northern Limit Line (NLL), Thursday. It also held a live-fire drill Monday.

“The enemy’s scenario for aggression aimed at the start of another Korean War has reached the phase of its implementation. The army and people of the DPRK never make empty talk. Should the enemies intrude into the sky, land and seas of the DPRK even an inch, the KPA will as ever continue dealing more devastating physical blows at them without hesitation,” Kim said.

Meanwhile, the United States backed South Korea’s recent military drills.

The White House said that the South’s military exercises were defensive in nature and well-publicized in advance.