Kim Jong-un at the launch of a North Korean ICBM, Photo: KCNA / UPI / Profimedia Images
North Korea said on Saturday that it will be “more offensive” towards Washington and Seoul, a day after conducting a ballistic missile test, denounced by both the United States and South Korea, reports AFP.
“We will act more offensively against enemy threats,” North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.
The North Korean official accused Washington of being “defiant in military maneuvers aimed at threatening the security” of his country, saying that the United States is “intentionally increasing political and military tension in the region.”
He also criticized the arrival on Wednesday of the USS George Washington nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the South Korean port of Busan. Seoul cited logistical reasons and the need for a break for sailors.
The North Korean minister's statements on Saturday, as well as the ballistic missile test a day ago, come a little over a week after US President Donald Trump's visit to South Korea, as part of a tour of Asia.
The American president had invoked the possibility of a meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he met three times during his first mandate.
But this possible summit never took place, Trump declaring himself “too busy”, while Pyongyang had not reacted to his proposal.
Trump no longer meets with Kim Jong Un: “I want to see him, that was really our goal, but the timing could not be agreed”
Instead, during his visit, Trump made a sizable gesture toward his South Korean ally, authorizing it to build a nuclear-powered submarine, which would make the country one of the few to possess one.
A few days later, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to the inter-Korean border with his South Korean counterpart, thus reaffirming bilateral ties.
Analysts expect the submarine deal to provoke an aggressive response from Pyongyang.
South Korean lawmakers, briefed by intelligence, warned this week that the North appears poised to quickly conduct its seventh nuclear test if Kim Jong Un gives the go-ahead.
