North Korea has demanded that the United States and South Korea stop their annual military drills, which are due to begin in February and March.
North Korean officials stated the drills are a direct provocation, and their remarks suggest a re-run of the tension that sharply escalated last year could be possible.
In 2013, North Korea threatened to retaliate against any military movements by the United States, Japan and South Korea. This triggered a buildup of military personnel on the Korean peninsula, and the two countries exchanged barbs for several months.
The hostile rhetoric provoked Washington to fly Stealth bombers over South Korea, and strengthen America’s military presence in the south.
Previously, North Korea called the drills staged by the United States and South Korea a prelude to invasion.
The North’s KCNA state news quoted an agency in control of the efforts to promote Korean unification as saying, “We sternly warn the U.S. and the South Korean authorities to stop the dangerous military exercises which may push the situation on the peninsula and the north-south ties to a catastrophe.”
Kim Min-soek, the spokesman for South Korea’s Defense Ministry, stated, “If North Korea actually commits military aggression at the excuse of what is a normal exercise we conduct as preparation for emergency, our military will mercilessly and decisively punish them.”
North Korea’s National Defense Commission responded to the comments by remarking, “We propose formally to the authorities of the South that on the occasion of the Lunar New Year holiday beginning on January 30, both sides take substantive steps of halting actions that provoke and criticize the other.”
The commission then added, “We propose substantive steps that halt all military hostile actions against the other,” which they said should include the halting of the yearly military drills.
The spokesman also stated that any drills would be tantamount to a declaration of full-scale “nuclear war.” They added that it could trigger “calamities and disasters beyond imagination.”
The United States has maintained a military presence in the South since the conclusion of the Korean War in 1953. They currently have 28,500 personnel in the country.
Meanwhile, North Korea has also been conducting military exercise in recent weeks as they prepare for conflict. This latest threat has been made at a time when the regime’s stability is extremely perilous.
The execution of Jang Song-Thaek, a senior North Korean leader and uncle of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has also added to the volatility of the situation.
