North Korea pledges ‘merciless’ response to US-South Korea drills

Asia-Pacific, News March 2, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

North Korea has pledged a “merciless” response to the United States and South Korea as the two countries begin their annual joint military exercises.

“The only means to cope with the aggression and war by the US imperialists and their followers is neither dialogue nor peace. They should be dealt with only by merciless strikes,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted a spokesman for the Korean People’s Army (KPA) as saying on Monday.

The remarks came on the same day that Washington and Seoul launched war games described by Pyongyang as provocative.

The eight-week exercise, called Foal Eagle, involves ground, air and naval field training, with some 200,000 Korean and 3,700 US troops. Another drill, dubbed Key Resolve, is also a largely computer-simulated one lasting just over a week.

The KPA spokesman said the maneuvers were “dangerous nuclear war drills for invading the DPRK (North Korea),” warning that Pyongyang will “promptly take counteractions” in case of any incursion.

“The situation on the Korean peninsula is again inching close to the brink of a war,” the official added.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the North had fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea ahead of the start of the exercises.

Last week, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, called on his country’s army to strengthen its preparedness for a possible military confrontation with the US and its allies.

The annual US-South Korea military drills begin in February every year and last until April 18. More than 12,500 US troops take part in the exercises.

Pyongyang has denounced the maneuvers as a practice for invasion, calling for them to be called off to avoid military tensions between South and North Korea and improve bilateral ties.

The two Koreas remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

SSM/NT/AS