North Korea on Thursday responded to the US and South Korea announcing they would be expanding joint military exercises, warning the steps are pushing toward an “extreme red-line” and will provoke the “toughest reaction.”
“The military and political situation in the Korean peninsula and the region has reached an extremely dangerous phase due to the reckless military confrontations and hostile acts of the US and its vassal forces,” a spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
On top of increasing the size of upcoming military drills, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the US will deploy more “strategic assets” to the Korean Peninsula, including bombers and fighter jets.
“If the US continues to introduce strategic assets into the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding area, the DPRK will make clearer its deterring activities without fail according to their nature,” the North Korean statement said.
Pyongyang said that it would respond under the principle of “nuke for nuke and an all-out confrontation for an all-out confrontation.”
In 2022, North Korea launched a record number of missile tests as the US and South Korea began holding large-scale joint exercises for the first time since 2017. The US and South Korean plans to increase those war games this year are almost guaranteed to provoke more weapons tests, and the Biden administration shows no interest in backing down.
The White House claimed that it has no “hostile intent” toward North Korea and insisted it seeks “serious and sustained diplomacy.” But Pyongyang said it won’t hold a dialogue with the US as long as it pursues a “hostile policy” and keeps ramping up its military activity in the region.
“toughest reaction” What exactly can they do?
Lob bombs recklessly at South Korea and Japan? I suppose that’s an acceptable thing to you? Even if they tried and failed miserably and the hermit regime was wiped out swiftly by western powers, a 25 million plus humanitarian crisis is just inconsequential to you it seems.
That would be suicidal by North Korea, why would they do that just because the US and South Korea had drills? That makes no sense.
I suppose you welcome millions dying and contaminating food and water for years to come.
Because of some military drills? Your statement is not logical.
Make Japan and South Korea completely uninhabitable
Oh the part you care about. A side effect is that it would destroy US military bases in both nations, and weaken our military position with respect to China.
Why would they do that because of some drills? As I pointed out they have no way to exert “toughest reaction” other than test fire some missiles. Which is no big deal. If you were the leader of North Korea why would you choose to die over a military drill?
Ever since the Obama administration began the trend of casual treatment of red lines, red lines as a phenomenon have become less red and less linear. To notify the seriousness of red lines the use of modest adjectives like “brightest” doesn’t suffice anymore. To most Western politicians the hue of a “brightest red line of all” isn’t discernable from that of your average and very negligible run of the mill red line. It is only to be expected that we would reach this stage of infantility, where a long list of ever more fantastical superlatives are awaiting their turn for devaluation. What comes after an extreme red line? Well, if Skyrim offers us any insight in the matter it would be an ultimate red line next time.
North Korea cannot do a thing but sabre rattling. Nothing.