North Korea Warns of Preemptive Strike Amid Continued US Threats

State Media Claims All of US Mainland Will Be Reduced to Ashes

North Korea’s state media has warned that they may launch a “super-mighty preemptive strike” against the United States amid growing US threats against them, and growing speculation in recent weeks that the US might unilaterally attack North Korea at any moment.

The state media claimed that the preemptive strike would “immediately wipe out” all US troops in South Korea and the surrounding area, and that they would also be able to turn the entire US mainland into ashes.”

Though North Korea has presented itself as preparing nuclear strikes in a fight against the US, their ability to deliver nuclear warheads is uncertain at best. White House officials have cited this in their own threats against North Korea, downplaying the risk of retaliation.

But while North Korea may not be able to retaliate with nuclear weapons, there is no real doubt that they could retaliate against a US attack with an overwhelming amount of conventional weapons, particularly artillery, which would cause a major number of casualties among US troops in South Korea, as well as devastating the South Korean economy with enormous amounts of damage to big cities like Seoul.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.