Now Reading: North Korea threatens US with ‘overwhelming force’ over joint drills
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North Korea threatens US with ‘overwhelming force’ over joint drills
North Korea threatens US with ‘overwhelming force’ over joint drills
North Korea has threatened the US and South Korea with 'overwhelming force' ahead of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise starting August 17. The warning from Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry on Friday…
The Story in Brief
North Korea has threatened the US and South Korea with 'overwhelming force' ahead of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise starting August 17. The warning from Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry on Friday came two days after it fired its 11th missile of the year into the Sea of Japan.
Since early July, North Korea has also intensified rhetoric against Japan, slamming its military build-up, Tomahawk cruise missile acquisition, and defence white paper as 're-invasion-minded'. Analysts say Pyongyang aims to frame Northeast Asia as a contest between a US-South Korea-Japan bloc and a North Korea-China-Russia bloc, to strengthen backing from Beijing and Moscow for its nuclear programme.
The Indian Opinion
The narrative that North Korea is merely responding to US-South Korea-Japan 'provocations' ignores its own long-range missile tests and nuclear ambitions. Pyongyang's talk of a regional 'nuclear alliance' is a transparent bid to justify its arsenal and deepen ties with China and Russia. The concrete test will be whether its next missile launch breaks self-imposed limits on range or warhead yield.
Sources (2): timesnownews.com, timesnownews.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
