North Korea Threatens ‘Fire Shower of Nuclear Retaliation’ Against South Korea

North Korea’s state media today accused the United States of attempting to provoke a second Korean War, and that “if the US imperialists start another war, the army and people of Korea will … wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all.”

The North Korean government added that a potential war would invite a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” against all of South Korea, insisting that the nation would not survive under the US nuclear umbrella.

Technically a resumption of hostilities wouldn’t be a second Korean War, as the first one is still going on. Though the combatants have had a truce for over half a century, they have yet to agree to a formal peace, and large numbers of troops remain at the disputed border.

Tensions between North Korea and the US have been on the rise since last month’s test of a nuclear weapon, the first apparently successful test by the North Korean government. Since then the US has declared the nation’s nuclear program ‘a grave threat‘ and said that it will never accept North Korea as a nuclear power.

North Korea has launched several missile tests since its nuclear test, and is reportedly planning to launch a long-range missile in the direction of Hawaii. The US has dispatched significant missile defense systems to the Hawaiian islands in anticipation of such a launch.