Pyongyang’s military commanders have put their troops on high alert, warning of a looming disaster because of the entrance of U.S. ships into South Korean waters.
U.S. warships docked at the port of Busan in preparation for a joint military exercise involving Seoul and Toyko, Time reported. Among the craft: The USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier. The planned exercise isn’t sitting well with North Korea.
The North’s state-run newspaper — dubbed the official newspaper of the regime — described the exercise as a “bellicose attempt to escalate the situation on the Korean Peninsula … by openly threatening it with nukes.”
U.S. authorities, meanwhile, refused to confirm or deny if ships docked at the South Korean ports were nuclear- armed and ready, Time said.
One military spokesman for the North Korean army vowed that the United States would be “wholly accountable for the unexpected horrible disaster” that was coming to its “imperialist aggression forces.”
The South, in response, rebuffed the threat and called the joint exercises little more than routine. Still, South Korean forces aren’t totally dismissive.
“We are closely watching the movement of the North Korean military,” an official with the South Korean military said in the Korean Herald.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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