On July 10, 2023, North Korea accused the United States of America (USA) of violating its airspace through surveillance flights and warned that while Pyongyang was exercising restraint, such flights may be shot down.
In a statement released by the spokesperson of the North Korean Ministry of National Defence, the provocative actions of the US are bringing the Korean Peninsula closer to a nuclear conflict, the KCNA agency reported.
The report also cited the use of American reconnaissance planes and drones and also said that Washington was escalating tensions by sending a nuclear-powered submarine near the peninsula.
The spokesperson said, “There is no such guarantee that such a shocking accident as the shooting of the American reconnaissance drone will not happen in waters east of Korea.” The statement cited past incidents of the DPRK shooting down and intercepting US aircraft at the border with South Korea and off the coast. The DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) has often complained about US surveillance flights across the Korean Peninsula.
There was no immediate response from the US military stationed in South Korea to request comment. The moves by the United States of America to introduce strategic nuclear assets to the North Korean Peninsula is the most disguised nuclear blackmail against North Korea and regional countries and presents a grave threat to peace, the KCNA said.
“Whether the extreme situation desired by nobody is created or not in the Korean Peninsula will depend on the future actions of the US, and if sudden situations happen, the US will be responsible and accountable for it,” the KCNA said.
The US and South Korean forces have been conducting air and naval drills this year that involved a US aircraft carrier and heavy bombers. An American nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine also made a port call to Busan in South Korea last month.
The North’s statement denounced what it called a move by the US to deploy a strategic nuclear submarine carrying nuclear warheads to the Korean Peninsula for the first time since 1981. In April 2023, the leaders of Seoul and Washington agreed that a US Navy nuclear-armed ballistic submarine will visit South Korea for the first time since the 1980s, but no timetable has been given for such a visit.
It was a plan to boost the deployment of American Strategic assets aimed at a more effective response to the DPRK threats and weapon tests in defence of its ally, South Korea. In June 2023, the US B-52 Strategic Bomber took part in military air drills with South Korea in a show of force following the failed launch of a spy satellite at the end of May 2023.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that now is the time to show that the international community’s determination to deter the North Korean nuclear weapons program is stronger than DPRK’s desire to develop nuclear weapons in written comments to the Associated Press published on July 10, 2023.
His office has said that Yoon is scheduled to attend the NATO Summit in Lithuania this week, where he is expected to seek greater cooperation with NATO members over DPRK nuclear and missile threats.
The northeast Asian nation of North Korea is one of the world’s most heavily sanctioned rogue states, which is famous for an aggressive policy of testing, detonating nuclear missiles and bombs. It spends most of its budget and time on military spending and the arms race.
It is at loggerheads with the US and South Korea in the Korean Peninsula. It is one of the most poverty-stricken dictatorial regimes that has no respect for human rights and weapons disarmament.
The communist country has the covert support of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and its citizens suffer most from the grave and atrocious policies perpetrated by Kim Dynasty, especially under Kim Jong Un.
