As Seoul and its allies called for “dialogue without preconditions,” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned Pyongyang that it will not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack if “provoked with nukes,” according to state media on Thursday.
Kim’s remarks come after a summit in Washington last week between the US and South Korea, during which they talked about nuclear deterrent in the case of conflict with the North.
“Nuclear and strategic planning” was on the agenda for the conference, and the allies reaffirmed that Pyongyang’s use of nuclear weapons against the US and South Korea would bring about the collapse of the North Korean dictatorship.
However, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency stated on Thursday that Kim instructed his military’s missile bureau “not to hesitate even (launching) a nuclear attack when the enemy provokes it with nukes.”
Shortly afterward, the nuclear-armed nation was urged in a statement by Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo to “stop conducting further provocations and accept our call for engaging in substantive dialogue without preconditions.”
In response to Pyongyang’s unprecedented string of weapon testing this year, the three nations have increased their defense cooperation. On Tuesday, they turned on a system that allows them to exchange real-time information about North Korean missile launches.
The North launched the Hwasong-18, its most potent ballistic missile, on Monday. It later labeled the missile as “a warning counter-measure” against what it saw as ongoing “military threat” actions by Washington and its allies.
A US nuclear-powered submarine docked near Busan, South Korea, last week, and Washington conducted long-range bomber exercises with Seoul and Tokyo on Wednesday.
The North has recently emphasized that Washington’s “strategic assets” in the South “are the first targets of destruction” and that the “Korean peninsula is in a state of war by law.”