The exercise took place as a U. S. guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea and envoys from the U. S., Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo.
PYONGYANG, North Korea — South Korea’s military said Tuesday that North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military.
The exercise took place as a U. S. guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea and envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo to discuss the growing threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles program.
Though experts thought a nuclear test or ballistic missile launch might happen, the morning came and went without either.
Crowds in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, laid flowers and paid respects at giant statues of the country’s former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, one day after the minister of defense reiterated that the North is ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the « U. S. imperialists. »
« The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the U. S. imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression, » Gen. Pak Yong Sik told a « national meeting » of thousands of senior military and civilian officials.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it is closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where it said the drills were being held. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency earlier said that the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seoul’s Defense Ministry couldn’t confirm such details.
The streets of Pyongyang were quiet. Flower-laying and bowing at statues and portraits of the leaders is a regular routine on major anniversaries. People also gathered in open spaces to take part in organized dancing, another common way to mark holidays.
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« Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day, » said Choe Un Byol, who had come with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders.
