Warning of disaster in the face of Key Resolve-Foal Eagle, the U.S.-South Korean joint military exercise which started yesterday, the North Korean media asserted today, “Once a war breaks out, a terrible nuclear disaster will come to pass.”
Rodong Shinmun, the mouthpiece of the Chosun Workers’ Party, claimed, “The reckless military provocations of the South Chosun authorities, now in collision with the U.S., have created extreme tension on the Chosun Peninsula once more,” in an article entitled “A dangerous, provocative furore bringing the fiery cloud of war to the Chosun Peninsula.”
The article went on, “Despite our efforts to forge peace, the political situation on the Chosun Peninsula is now on the verge of extreme tension.”
“The U.S. and South Chosun have constantly revised their invasion plan, and reflected it in the Key Resolve-Foal Eagle joint military exercise, one complete North Korea attack operation.”
Elsewhere in the same edition, a column, “We must crush this attempt to attack the North,” asserted, “The South Chosun Warmongers are now, alongside the U.S., pushing ahead with their provocative joint military exercise, Key Resolve-Foal Eagle, imagining invasion of the North, so the opportunity for dialogue and peace has disappeared and the risk of war has increased.”
The column went on, “Once a war breaks out, the only thing that can occur is a nuclear disaster,” and urged, “If we intend to sweep away the risk of war, the belligerent factions’ invasion exercise and moves to expand their military power must be suspended.”
Meanwhile, South Korean Minister of National Defense Kim Gwan Jin made a speech at a military base which oversees the front line along the western front, telling soldiers, “Since there could be a North Korean provocation, we need to use our imagination to think of and discuss every possible kind.” He went on, “When on operations, don’t ask whether or not you can fire; first take action, then later report it.”
He stressed, “No matter how well the plans to counter provocations are prepared, our actions must follow them,” and concluded, “Exercises are necessary for that.”
