North Korea Says US-South Korea Drills Push Tension to 'Brink of Nuclear War'

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Facts

  • North Korea on Thursday accused the US and South Korea of escalating tensions to the brink of nuclear war through their joint military drills, according to state media KCNA. Pyongyang vowed to respond with "offensive action."1
  • KCNA released a commentary attributed to an international security analyst, Choe Ju Hyon, criticizing the US-South Korean exercises as a trigger for driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the point of explosion. He warned that American military hysteria could lead to an irreversible catastrophe.2
  • South Korean and US forces have been holding a series of springtime joint military drills since March, including air, sea, and amphibious landing drills off the Korean Peninsula's coast, involving a US aircraft carrier and B-1B and B-52 bombers.3
  • North Korea has reacted furiously to US-South Korean military exercises, calling them a rehearsal for invasion. In recent weeks, it has unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads, fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking anywhere in the US, and tested what it called a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone.4
  • The exercises come amid an exponential rise in North Korean missile firing activities. This year, North Korea has fired a dozen ballistic and cruise missiles over ten different launch events. "The drills have turned the Korean peninsula into a huge powder magazine which can be detonated any moment," the commentary said.5
  • The statement can be perceived as a plea for de-escalation and dialogue from the North, “now the international community unanimously hopes that the dark clouds of a nuclear war hanging over the Korean peninsula will be removed as early as possible," it said.6

Sources: 1Reuters, 2US News & World Report, 3The Business Standard, 4Colorado Springs Gazette, 5DW, and 6Al Jazeera.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Archive. The US and South Korea are working together to combat the rising threat North Korea poses. The two allies are joining for the largest military exercises in five years because of the current stakes. Kim Jong Un is on the precipice of starting a nuclear war and his threats cannot merely be dismissed. The US military must defend its allies and the rules-based international order, and prevent a nuclear attack at all costs.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by KCNA Watch. The US and its puppet South Korea are ramping up aggressions against North Korea and are instigating war. The US is coming to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s doorstop to launch unprecedented military exercises as it looks to potentially invade the North. These preemptive actions cannot be overlooked, and US confrontations must be addressed.

Predictions