‘Catastrophic consequences’: N. Korea vows to retaliate against deployment of US strike group
North Korea has denounced the deployment of the US naval strike group to the peninsula, warning that it is ready for war and Washington will be fully responsible for any potentially “catastrophic consequences” in the event of an invasion.
In a show of force last week, Washington rerouted the Carl Vinson nuclear strike group into Korean waters, after having cancelled its planned trip to Australia. The repositioning of US forces in the region coincided with President Donald Trump’s talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Wary of Washington’s firm commitment to undermine its nuclear and ballistic programs, Pyongyang issued a stern warning, saying, “This goes to prove that the US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase.”
“If the US dares opt for a military action, crying out for ‘preemptive attack’ and ‘removal of the headquarters’ the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US,” a spokesman for the North’s foreign ministry said according to state news agency KCNA.
Calling Trump’s moves to bolster regional military presence “foolish” and “outrageous” the spokesman noted that American provocation could force North Korea to respond with nuclear force.
“The prevailing grave situation proves once again that the DPRK was entirely just when it increased in every way its military capabilities for self-defence and preemptive attack with a nuclear force as a pivot,” the statement noted, adding that US will be held “wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences.”
While the deployment of the US strike group to North Korean shores has raised fears of possible regime change motives, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson dismissed such a scenario over the weekend. Emphasizing that Trump’s administration only wants a denuclearized Korean peninsula, Tillerson told the “This Week” program the US has “no objective to change the regime in North Korea.”
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