North Korea has warned it will take “further offensive actions” following its latest ballistic missile launch, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from Washington and Seoul.
The missile test, carried out on Friday, came just a week after US President Donald Trump, during a regional tour, indicated interest in meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, an offer that Pyongyang has not yet recognized.
Reacting to rising tensions, North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol accused the United States of becoming “brazen in its military moves to threaten the security” of the country. He claimed that Washington was “intentionally escalating political and military tension in the region,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“We will show more offensive actions against the threat of enemies,” he warned.
Before the launch, the head of the US Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, and his South Korean counterpart visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), where they reaffirmed their countries’ “strong combined defense posture” and their close security cooperation.
The arrival of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS George Washington, in the South Korean port city of Busan on Wednesday further angered Pyongyang. North Korea’s Defense Minister described the deployment as an act of “escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula” and accused Hegseth of trying to “stoke war hysteria” with his visit to the Demilitarized Zone.
In response to the missile launch, the US Indo-Pacific Command said the test “highlights the destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s continued provocations, adding that Washington is “consulting closely with our allies and partners.”
South Korea’s military also condemned the launch and urged Pyongyang to “immediately cease all actions that increase tensions between the two Koreas.”
The latest developments come as US President Trump recently approved South Korea’s plan to develop a nuclear-powered submarine, a significant advance for Seoul’s defense capabilities that experts say could trigger an aggressive response from North Korea.
South Korean lawmakers, briefed by the defense intelligence agency, said earlier this week that Pyongyang appears prepared to conduct its seventh nuclear test at any time, pending approval from leader Kim Jong Un.
(Reuters)