North Korea accused the United States on Tuesday of pushing the
Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war after a pair of strategic
U.S. bombers flew training drills with the South Korean and Japanese air
forces in another show of strength.
The two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers were deployed amid rising
tensions over North Korea’s dogged pursuit of its nuclear and missile
programs in defiance of United Nations sanctions and pressure from the
United States.
The flight of the two bombers on Monday came as U.S. President Donald
Trump said he was open to meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in
the right circumstances, and as his CIA director landed in South Korea
for talks.
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a
briefing in Seoul that Monday’s joint drill was conducted to deter
provocations by the North and to test readiness against another
potential nuclear test.
The U.S. air force said in a statement the bombers had flown from
Guam to conduct training exercises with the South Korean and Japanese
air forces.
North Korea said the bombers conducted “a nuclear bomb dropping drill
against major objects” in its territory at a time when Trump and “other
U.S. warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike”
on the North.
“The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the
Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war,” the North’s
official KCNA news agency said on Tuesday.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been high for weeks, driven by
concerns that the North might conduct its sixth nuclear test in defiance
of pressure from the United States and Pyongyang’s sole major ally,
China.
China’s Global Times, a state-backed tabloid that does not
necessarily reflect national policy, said in an editorial late on Monday
the United States should not rely on China alone to pressure Pyongyang
into giving up its nuclear ambitions.
April could prove a “turning point”, the paper said, but “Washington …
must also continue to exert its own efforts on the issue”.
It was widely feared North Korea could conduct its sixth nuclear test
on or around April 15 to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the
North’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, or on April 25 to coincide with
the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People’s Army.
The North has conducted such tests or missile launches to mark significant events in the past.
Instead, North Korea conducted an annual military parade, featuring a
display of missiles, on April 15 and then a large, live-fire artillery
drill 10 days later.
“VIGILANCE, READINESS”
South Korea’s acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn called for stronger
vigilance because of continuing provocation by Seoul’s poor and isolated
neighbor, and for countries such as China to increase pressure on the
North.
“I am asking foreign and security ministries to further strengthen
military readiness in order for North Korea not to miscalculate,” Hwang
told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Soon after Hwang spoke, a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Seoul said the
director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo, was in
South Korea for meetings with the embassy and U.S. Forces in Korea.
The Yonhap news agency, citing unidentified government sources, had
earlier reported that Pompeo met South Korea’s intelligence chief and a
senior presidential. South Korean officials would not confirm the
report.
Trump said on Monday he would be “honored” to meet North Korea’s young leader.
“If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would
absolutely, I would be honored to do it,” Trump told Bloomberg News in
comments that drew criticism in Washington.
Trump did not say what conditions would be needed for such a meeting
to occur or when it could happen. The White House said later North Korea
would need to meet many conditions before it could be contemplated.
“Clearly conditions are not there right now,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.
“I don’t see this happening anytime soon.”
Trump warned in an interview with Reuters on Thursday that a “major,
major conflict” with North Korea was possible, while China said last
week the situation on the Korean peninsula could escalate or slip out of
control.
In a show of force, the United States has already sent an aircraft
carrier strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, to waters off the
Korean peninsula to conduct drills with South Korea and Japan.
The U.S. military’s THAAD anti-missile defense system has reached
initial operational capacity in South Korea, U.S. officials told
Reuters, although they cautioned that it would not be fully operational
for some months.
North Korea test-launched a missile on Saturday that appeared to have
failed within minutes, its fourth successive failed launch since March.
It has conducted two nuclear tests and a series of missile-related
activities at an unprecedented pace since the beginning of last year.
The North is technically still at war with the South after their
1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty, and regularly threatens
to destroy the United States, Japan and South Korea.