North Korea Says If South Korea Attacks, North Will Use Nuclear Weapons
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent - Follow -
Date Published: April 5, 2022 11:00PM UTC
Last Modified: April 5, 2022 11:00PM UTC
NORTH KOREA- North Korea has stated that although they oppose war, but if South Korea opts for a 'preemptive strike' then North Korea will use nuclear weapons.
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said that it was a "very big mistake" for the South Korean Minister of Defense Suh Wook to make the remarks that he made regarding North Korea, saying that South Korea's military has a variety of missiles with greatly improved range, accuracy and power with "the ability to accurately and quickly hit any target in North Korea".
Kim and another North Korean official both issued a statement condemning the statement by the South Korean Defense Minister. Kim Yo Jong also stated that North Korea opposes war, which would leave the peninsula in ruins and does not view South Korea as its principle enemy.
"But if south Korea, for any reason - whether or not it is blinded by misjudgement - opts for such military action as 'preemptive strike' touted by (Suh Wook), the situation will change," Kim added. "In that case, south Korea itself will become a target" she stated.
She also said that if South Korea violates North Korea territory then it will face an "unimaginably terrible disaster" and that the North Korean nuclear combat forces will have to inevitably have to carry out its duty.
She added that South Korea can avoid this by dropping any "fantastic daydream" of carrying out a preemptive strike on a nuclear armed state.
Officials from both South Korea and the United States have stated that North Korea could soon test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017 in order to improve its nuclear arsenal and increase political pressure.
Two U.S. officials reportedly spoke to Reuters and said that there are indications, including new activity near the Punggye-ri nuclear site, that North Korea might be in the midst of preparing for a test.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby had stated that Washington is concerned about the possibility of new tests saying, " Every time you test you learn.... We know that this is a program that they want to improve," he told a briefing on Tuesday. "And so of course, we're concerned about efforts to do that".
