In a new incendiary statement, Pyongyang promised to fire “a salvo of missiles” at the US territory of Guam, and keep its hands “closer to trigger” amid major US-South Korea drills involving B-1 bombers and a carrier strike group.
As Washington and its Asia-Pacific allies prepare for a joint maritime exercise, the North Korean government issued new threats to target the US territory of Guam. The upcoming war games, which involve the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, are set to begin on Monday off the shores of South Korea.
An op-ed published by Pyongyang’s KCNA state news agency said: “We have already warned several times that we will take counteractions for self-defense including a salvo of missiles into waters near the US territory of Guam, an advance base for invading the DPRK, where key US bases are located.”
“The US military action hardens our determination that the US should be tamed with fire and lets us take our hand closer to ‘trigger’ for taking the toughest countermeasure,” Kim Kwang Hak, a researcher at the Institute for American Studies of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said in the op-ed.
Pyongyang’s statement comes as the US deploys additional navy warships to South Korea’s ports.
