‘Nearer the brink of nuclear war’
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NORTH Korea yesterday accused the United States of pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war after a pair of strategic US bombers flew training drills with the South Korean and Japanese air forces in another show of strength.
The two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers were deployed amid rising tensions over North Korea’s pursuit of its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of UN sanctions.
The flight of the two bombers on Monday came as US President Donald Trump said he would be “honored” to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the right circumstances, and as his CIA director landed in South Korea for talks.
South Korean defense ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a briefing in Seoul that Monday’s joint drill was conducted to deter provocations by North Korea.
North Korea said the bombers conducted “a nuclear bomb dropping drill against major objects” in its territory at a time when Trump and “other US warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike” on North Korea.
“The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean Peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war,” North Korea’s KCNA news agency said.
Tensions on the peninsula have been high for weeks, driven by concerns that North Korea might conduct its sixth nuclear test.
The US military’s THAAD anti-missile defense system has reached initial operational capacity in South Korea, US officials told reporters, though they cautioned it would not be fully operational for some months.
China has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the system, whose powerful radar it fears could reach inside Chinese territory. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang again denounced it yesterday.
“We will resolutely take necessary measures to defend our interests,” he said, without elaborating.
Asked about Trump’s suggestion he could meet Kim, Geng said China had noted US comments that it wanted to use peaceful means to resolve the issue.
“China has always believed that using peaceful means via dialogue and consultation to resolve the peninsula’s nuclear issue is the only realistic, feasible means to achieve denuclearization of the peninsula and maintain peace and stability there, and is the only correct choice,” Geng told a daily news briefing.
A US Embassy spokesman in Seoul said the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo, was in South Korea for meetings with the embassy and US Forces Korea.
Trump’s comments about a possible meeting with North Korea’s young leader drew criticism in Washington.
“If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it,” Trump told Bloomberg News. Trump did not say what conditions would be needed for such a meeting to occur or when it could happen.
“Clearly conditions are not there right now,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.
Trump warned in an interview last Thursday that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea was possible, while China said last week the situation on the Korean Peninsula could escalate or slip out of control.
In a show of force, the United States has already sent an aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, to waters off the peninsula to conduct drills with South Korea and Japan.
North Korea test-launched a missile on Saturday that appeared to have failed within minutes, its fourth successive failed launch since March. It has conducted two nuclear tests and a series of missile-related activities at an unprecedented pace since the beginning of last year.
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