North Korea warns of nuclear 'sacred war'
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Saturday, July 24, 2010
North Korea says it will use its "nuclear deterrent" in response to joint US-South Korean military exercises this weekend.
Pyongyang was ready to launch a "retaliatory sacred war", the
state-run Korean Central News Agency (KINA) said, quoting defence
officials.
Washington and Seoul say the war games are to deter North Korean aggression.
Tensions between the two Koreas have been high since the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.
An international investigation said the ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, a claim strongly denied by Pyongyang.
"All
these war manoeuvres are nothing but outright provocations aimed to
stifle the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea] by force
of arms," KCNA reported the powerful National Defence Commission as
saying.
"The army and people of the DPRK will start a
retaliatory sacred war of their own style based on nuclear deterrent
any time necessary in order to counter the US imperialists and the
South Korean puppet forces deliberately pushing the situation to the
brink of a war."
In response, the White House said it was not interested in a "war of words" with North Korea.
State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said the US wanted "more constructive action and fewer provocative words" from Pyongyang.
The North had already promised a physical response to the military exercises during an Asian regional security forum in Vietnam.