North Korea tests missiles as rival gets US defence system

NORTH KOREA faced a chorus of condemnation yesterday over its latest ballistic missile tests but claimed that joint US-South Korea military exercises were aimed at conducting a “pre-emptive nuclear attack” against Pyongyang.

The accusation was made as US missile launchers and other equipment for a controversial defence system arrived in South Korea.

The plans to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system (THAAD) this year have angered not only North Korea but also China and Russia, which view the system’s powerful radars as a security threat. Washington and Seoul say THAAD is purely defensive.

Ju Yong Choi, a North Korean diplomat, told the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that the annual drills were “a major cause of escalation of tension” that might “turn into actual war” on the peninsula.

“The ongoing joint military exercise is carried out with massive mobilisation of troops, unprecedented in size, and various types of US strategic forces including nuclear carriers, nuclear strategic bombers and Stealth fighters,” Mr Ju told the 61-member forum.

“It will certainly jeopardise peace and stability in the region,” he said.

During the 90-minute session, envoys from countries including China, Britain, France, Russia and the US condemned North Korea’s test-firing of four ballistic missiles on Monday.

North Korea closed its borders yesterday to Malaysians who want to leave the country, spurring Malaysia to issue a retaliatory order following a diplomatic row over the killing of Kim Jongnam last month, the exiled half-brother of North Korea’s leader.