
Kim Jong-un Regime Threatens the United States Over Military Drills
(ConservativeSense.com) – North Korea, or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as the government there likes to refer to itself, has made a point of ramping up arms testing this year. It has launched more than 40 ballistic missiles so far this year, including one intermediate-range weapon, the Hwasong-12, which it fired over Japan in early October. So it makes sense its neighbor, South Korea, would work with allies, especially the US, to hone defenses through annual military drills. Now, Pyongyang is threatening the US over the joint drills — and they might have already started an escalation toward war.
On Tuesday, November 1, the DPRK’s foreign ministry warned of “more powerful follow-up measures” as the country’s answer to allied “Vigilant Storm” air force drills, according to reports. A spokesperson characterized the joint actions with South Korea as “grave military provocations.”
Kim Jong-un's North Korea taunts the US as it warns of 'more powerful follow-up measures' https://t.co/E4SwTLHPCc
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) November 1, 2022
Despite assurances to North Korea that the joint drills were purely defensive, South Korean air raid sirens sounded early Wednesday morning, signaling incoming missiles and warning residents to seek shelter. The DPRK fired at least 23 missiles, one of which landed 26 kilometers (about 16 miles) south of the northern limit line (NLL), a disputed maritime zone border between the two nations. It fell within 57 km (about 35.5 miles) of Sokcho, a city on the Sea of Japan in the northeast quadrant of the country.
North Korea regards the allied defensive military drills as practice for an invasion. Yet, spokesman Ned Price of the US State Department said the DPRK was apparently “reaching for another pretext for provocations it has already undertaken, potentially for provocations that it might be planning to take.”
Wednesday afternoon, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered a counter-strike using three air-to-surface, precision-guided missiles deployed by South Korean fighter jets at the same distance north of the NLL as the weapon that fell near Sokcho.
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