The ramifications of South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young’s threatened “preemptive strike” against North Korea continue to be felt in the peninsula, as North Korean officials today threatened war over a possible joint military exercise between the south and the United States.
The US proposed the joint operation earlier this month, designed to simulate “all possible contingencies” related to North Korea, including “stabilization” operations in the nation and seizing the nation’s nuclear arsenal.
North Korea’s military said it has issued “repeated warnings” against such exercises, and said they saw a clear link between Defense Minister Kim’s January threat and the sudden call for operations.
Ratcheting up the already rising rhetoric, the military statement added that they would respond with a “powerful military counteraction” including the mobilization of the military and potentially their nuclear arsenal.
Someone help me to understand why we are asking DPRK to disarm while provoking them with threats of preemptive strikes and suggesting military exercises and solutions for all contingencies. DA