N. Korea condemns visit by US aircraft carrier

Agence France-Presse

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

N. Korea condemns visit by US aircraft carrier
A spokesman of the Policy Department of North Korea's National Defence Commission says the visit was 'in defiance' of the North's overtures

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea on Saturday, July 12, condemned a port visit by a US aircraft carrier to the South as a “reckless” act of provocation following proposals by Pyongyang to ease cross-border tensions.

The USS George Washington arrived in the southern port of Busan on Friday, July 11, for joint military exercises starting next week.

A spokesman of the Policy Department of the North’s National Defence Commission (NDC) said the visit was “little short of its ‘gunboat diplomacy’ in the last century” and “in defiance” of the North’s overtures.

“The US should properly understand that the more persistently it resorts to reckless nuclear blackmail and threat, the further the DPRK (North Korea) will bolster up its cutting edge nuclear force for self-defense”, the spokesman was quoted as saying by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

He said the exercises, taking place after the North reached out last week, were an “open challenge” to its efforts. (READ: North Korea makes fresh call for improved ties with South)

“Whenever there was a sign of improving the north-south relations and detente on the peninsula, the US resorted to sinister interference and obstructions”, he said in reference to the upcoming drills.

The George Washington is scheduled to take part in joint exercises with the South Korean navy from July 16-21 as part of annual military drills, Seoul’s Yonhap news agency said.

It will then participate in a search and rescue exercise with South Korean and Japanese maritime forces in waters off the southern island of Jeju for two days starting July 21, it said.

Last week the NDC called for both the North and the South to halt all hostile military activities – a suggestion Seoul dismissed as “nonsensical” in the light of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

North Korea issued another call Monday, July 7, for a lowering of military tensions with South Korea, even as leader Kim Jong-Un oversaw firing drills on an island near the sensitive maritime border.

A government statement carried by KCNA said it was time to end “reckless hostility and confrontation” and called on Seoul to scrap its annual joint military drills with the United States.

South Korea has repeatedly made it clear that the annual joint drills are non-negotiable. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!