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North Korea Threatens ‘Terror,’ Closes Only Communication Channel With U.S. [Video]

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 09:26 PST, Jul 11, 2016

North Korea is threatening physical retribution against the United States in response to an anti-missile system that has been jointly deployed by South Korea and the U.S. Representatives from the reclusive nation said that it would make both countries “suffer from the nightmare of uneasiness and terror.”

The harsh words from North Korea come as the United States and South Korea have announced that they are negotiating where the new, high-tech Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) will be deployed. The comments are the first from North Korea regarding the new missile defense system, reports CNN.

The new THAAD missile defense system is capable of shooting down short, medium, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and it can do so incredibly quickly. The United States has been using the same type of missile defense system for several years in order to guard military units from missile attacks.

“We once again warn the enemies that it is the steadfast will of the KPA to make merciless retaliatory strikes to reduce South Korea to a sea in flames and debris once an order is issued.”

In the midst of an array of rhetoric which is becoming increasingly threatening and violent, North Korea also test-fired a submarine-based ballistic missile. North Korea’s missile test took place on Saturday, and South Korea has reported that the test was unsuccessful. In recent months, North Korea has also test-fired two intermediate-range missiles. Those missiles were fired from near the east of Korea’s peninsula, and South Korea has publicly condemned the firings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfh6P1OAEnc

According to South Korean officials, the recent North Korea missile tests were in “clear violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution.”

On Monday, North Korea escalated the tensions between itself and the United States even further, reports CNN. It was then that North Korea announced the decision to shut down its only direct diplomatic channel of communication with the U.S. The move follows both the joint U.S./South Korea missile defense system and the United State’s decision to impose sanctions on Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea.

The U.S.’s newest sanctions also impact other North Korean officials, and they are related to alleged human rights violations within the nation.

The United States and North Korea don’t actually have formal diplomatic ties, but the North Korean mission to the United Nations (located in New York) has been the unofficial communication avenue between the two nations. Until now. According to North Korea’s Central News Agency, the mission will now handle “DPRK-US relations under the wartime law of the DPRK.”

The recent sanctions imposed by the United States were the first ever that were directly imposed by Washington onto Kim Jong Un. The were issued because Obama Administration officials blame the leader of North Korea personally for the “notorious abuses of human rights” within North Korea.

“The DPRK government sent the U.S. government a message on July 10 through the DPRK permanent mission to the UN in connection with the fact that the U.S. recently impaired the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK by releasing what they call ‘report on human rights,’ and ‘lists of targets of special sanctions’ related to the DPRK.”

According to officials within North Korea, the isolated nation will be taking “practical actions” against the U.S. in response to the United State’s refusal to withdraw the recent sanctions against Kim. The first stage of those practical sanctions is, apparently, shutting down the New York communication resource.

North Korea blames the U.S. solely for the current strife between the United States, North Korea, and South Korea.

“The U.S. is wholly to blame for the ensuing unpleasant things happening in the bilateral times.”

The move by Washington to directly sanction Kim for human rights violations comes during a year in which North Korea opted to sentence an American student to 15 years of hard labor within the country for removing a political banner from a hotel where he’d been staying.

[Image by Astrelok/Shutterstock]

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