According to the official KCNA news agency, North Korea announced today that it will respond to the joint maneuvers of the United States and South Korea with “continuous, firm and crushing” military action.
The warning comes in the context of a series of missile tests carried out by Pyongyang in recent weeks, including the launch of four ballistic missiles on Saturday, days after the United States and South Korea completed the largest joint military air exercises ever held by the United States. States. two countries.
“We will continue to respond to all the enemy’s (North Korea) maneuvers with sustained, firm and overwhelming practical military measures,” the Korean People’s Army Chief of Staff said in a statement, according to KCNA. Said.
The agency said the north’s latest ballistic missile tests were a “clear response” to Washington and Seoul for their military exercises last week, dubbed “Storm Watch.”
The Pyongyang military said the maneuvers were “intentionally aimed at increasing tensions in the region and were a dangerous maneuver of an extremely aggressive nature, directed directly at North Korea”.
“The more persistent the provocative actions of the enemy, the more extensive and ruthless [os militares norte-coreanos] He will fight them,” added the statement released by the KCNA.
Hundreds of American and South Korean warplanes, including B-1B bombers, participated in exercise Watchful Storm last week.
South Korea’s Chiefs of Staff said the exercise demonstrated “the ability and readiness to respond harshly to any provocation by North Korea”.
At the same time, Seoul countered criticisms of North Korea and said the maneuvers pose no threat to any country.
The exercises, however, sparked strong reactions from Pyongyang, who saw them as rehearsals for an invasion.
The North Korean military said the operations included launching tactical ballistic missiles that simulate attacks on air bases and rehearse downing enemy aircraft.
According to KCNA, the North Korean Air Force also conducted a “large-scale combat operation” with 500 aircraft.
The agency released footage Monday of North Korean military operations with missiles fired from several unidentified locations.
air bases
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol described the action as a “de facto invasion of territory”.
Air maneuvers were particularly worrying for Pyongyang, according to analysts, as the air force is one of the weakest points of its armed forces, which lack advanced aircraft and experienced pilots.
Researcher Cheong Seoung-chang of the Sejong Institute in Seoul said details of North Korean operations last week revealed the country’s emphasis on destroying air bases in the South.
“North Korea considers it important to attack and neutralize airbases in the first place because their own air force is fragile,” Cheong told AFP.
North Korea revised its nuclear doctrine in September to allow preemptive strikes in the event of a threat to Kim Jong Un’s regime.
Seoul and Washington believe Pyongyang will soon carry out a nuclear test, the seventh in the regime’s history and the first since 2017.
source: Noticias
