US is taking world into nuclear war, says North Korea
NORTH Korea yesterday accused the United States of leading the world to the brink of nuclear war.
In a dramatic announcement, Kim In Ryong, the rogue state’s deputy ambassador to the UN, accused the US of turning the Korean peninsula into “the world’s biggest hotspot”.
He said that under President Donald Trump’s leadership, it had created “a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment”.
He described US and South Korean military exercises as the largest ever “aggressive war drill” and said his country was “ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US”.
He described as “vicious blackmail” warnings from US vice-president Mike Pence to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un that US strikes in Syria and Afghanistan demonstrated that the resolve of Mr Trump should not be tested.
Mr Pence spoke during a surprise visit to the demilitarised zone that divides North and South Korea.
He arrived in the southern capital Seoul on Sunday, hours after North Korea carried out a botched ballistic missile test. Kim In Ryong accused Mr Trump of “gangster-like tactics”.
Mr Trump has ordered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and a nuclear-armed armada to the Korean peninsula.
Mr Pence also demanded that China press North Korea into abandoning its nuclear programme, and warned that any military aggression would meet an “overwhelming” response.
Russian state TV claimed Mr Trump was “more dangerous” than Kim Jong-un.
It condemned Pyongyang’s failed missile test on Sunday but urged Mr Trump not to break international law with a pre-emptive strike.