North Korea has warned that South Korea will become a “decisive target“ for collective retaliation if it serves as the central hub of a US-led collective defence system. The warning was made in a commentary by North Korea's state news agency KCNA, Reuters reported.
The comment was made by Kang Chol-su, who is described as the director of a department at the Institute for the Study of Enemy States. He accused Washington of turning its ally South Korea into a base for achieving global hegemony and using it as a platform for initial deployment of forces in conflicts abroad.
Kang cited remarks by the commander of US forces in South Korea, General Javier Brunson, in which Seoul was presented as a key centre of collective defence. The North Korean representative criticized the joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, as well as the deployment of American troops.
“Pyongyang has prepared countermeasures and will ruthlessly crush any challenge to its security“, the KCNA commentary said.
The United States has about 28,500 troops in South Korea. They are positioned there to deter aggression from North Korea. American forces in South Korea did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sources: BTA, Reuters