North Korea threatened to "retaliate against the U.S. with
tremendous muscle" if it didn't cancel multinational military exercises
scheduled to begin Monday.
South Korea
conducts the yearly exercises, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, with the United
States and other allies "to enhance ... readiness, protect the region and
maintain stability on the Korean peninsula," according to a statement from
the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.
Just as the
event itself is annual, so too are the condemnations and threats of retaliation
from the reclusive North Korean regime.
"The
further Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military exercises are intensified, the
strongest military counteraction the (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)
will take to cope with them," a spokesman for North Korea's National
Defense Commission (NDC) said Saturday.
A State Department official told CNN on Saturday it was aware of
the threats. The exercises are transparent, defense-minded and are designed to
increase the readiness of South Korea and the region, the State Department
official said.
"These
exercises are a clear demonstration of the U.S. commitment to the
alliance," the official said.
While
threatening military action is nothing new for the regime (Kim Jong Un told his troops they should be ready
to fight a "sacred war" in the days leading up to the exercises in
2012, for example), the rhetoric coming out of Pyongang seems particularly
ratcheted-up this time around.
"The army
and people of the DPRK are no longer what they used to be in the past when they
had to counter the U.S. nukes with rifles," the NDC spokesman continued,
saying North Korea "is the invincible power equipped with both [the]
latest offensive and defensive means unknown to the world..."
A state television report repeated the claim that this isn't the
same old, ill-equipped North Korea that never could stand up to the United
States in the past. In fact, this year, they are threatening to attack the U.S.
on its own soil.
"If [the]
United States wants their mainland to be safe," said a newswoman for the
state TV station, KCNA, "then the Ulchi Freedom Guardian should stop
immediately."
A former Army
general who participated in previous Ulchi exercises said it's nothing more
than the bluster of young tyrant who perhaps feels marginalized by more serious
foes.
"One of the
key propaganda goals of the young leader is to just get on the radar of the
U.S.," said retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, now a national security
analyst for CNN. "With all the other things we're focused on -- ISIS, al
Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, Russia and Ukraine, etc., Kim Jong Un wants to
ensure he grabs attention."
Assuming the United
States agrees with that assessment and doesn't give in, the exercises -- which
will also include forces from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, New
Zealand and the United Kingdom -- will last 12 days and conclude August 28.
No comments:
Post a Comment