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North Korea warns of more provocative military displays after US-South Korea deterrence deal

North Korea says the Washington Declaration reflected a ‘hostile and aggressive will of action’ against the North and will put peace in the region in ‘more serious danger’

Maroosha Muzaffar
Saturday 29 April 2023 08:12 BST
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<p>A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, 19 April 2023</p>

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, 19 April 2023

North Korea has warned of more provocative military displays in response to the US-South Korea nuclear deterrence deal.

Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong said the deal reflected a “hostile and aggressive will of action” against North Korea and will put peace in the region in “more serious danger”.

Ms Kim’s comments — published in the state media — come after US president Joe Biden said that a North Korean nuclear attack on the US or its allies would “result in the end of whatever regime” launched the action.

During a meeting with South Korean president, Yook Suk-yeol in Washington, the US president announced the deal — known as the Washington Declaration.

Responding to the deal, Ms Kim said: “The more the enemies are dead set on staging nuclear war exercises, and the more nuclear assets they deploy in the vicinity of the Korean peninsula, the stronger the exercise of our right to self-defence will become in direct proportion to them.”

North Korea has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022 and Kim Jong-un is widely expected to up the ante in the coming months as he accelerates a campaign aimed at cementing the North’s status as a nuclear power, according to Reuters.

During their summit, Mr Biden and Mr Yoon announced new nuclear deterrence efforts that call for periodically docking US nuclear-armed submarines in South Korea for the first time in decades and bolstering training between the two countries.

Ms Kim, meanwhile, added that Mr Biden for being “too miscalculating and irresponsibly brave” but said the North would not simply dismiss his words as a “nonsensical remark from the person in his dotage”.

She further stated: “When we consider that this expression was personally used by the President of the US, our most hostile adversary, it is threatening rhetoric for which he should be prepared for far too great an after storm.”

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