The North Korean Regime along with its inept leader, Kim Jong Un, believe they stand ready to engage South Korea and the US in war should they continue their usual joint exercises along the DMZ and in the waters. Promising the “toughest reaction” to any continued exercises, NK claims that this pushes tensions toward an “extreme red line.”
Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry issues these comments as a follow-up to claims of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that the US would be increasing the deployments of high-end military assets into the Korean Peninsula. Proclaimed while visiting Seoul, Austin has been helping to push the line and ensure SK knows just how supported they are.
Meanwhile, SK’s Defense Ministry took February 1st to proclaim the great success of their latest joint exercises. Explaining how the United States flew B-1B bombers and F-22 and F-35 fighter jets in an exercise with South Korean fighters over SK’s territorial waters, they now have their sights set on training for a NK nuclear attack later in February.
NK’s responses as of late have been less from Kim himself or even his sister. Instead, anonymous spokespeople for the regime have been delivering the latest. This time coming from their Foreign Ministry, they claimed these drills were representative of the turn into a “huge war arsenal and a more critical war zone.” The anonymous asset then claimed that the North would be ready to strike with the “most overwhelming nuclear force.”
“The military and political situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region has reached an extreme red line due to the reckless military confrontational maneuvers and hostile acts of the U.S. and its vassal forces. DPRK will take the toughest reaction to any military attempt of the U.S. on the principle of ‘nuke for nuke and an all-out confrontation for an all-out confrontation!’”
Statements like these from nameless representatives send an unclear message about the regime and its current outlook. Traditionally when nuclear testing or rocket launches of importance were conducted, the rhetoric would be turned up to full blast. In recent months, these statements have frequently come before or right after periods of military silence from the regime.
Austin’s visit to SK isn’t a very strong message to the globe. While it may help settle any concerns from SK or even Japan about where the US stands on its commitment to the Korean peninsula, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Given the current but under-stressed threat of China towards Taiwan, and the implications of any conflict there could be on the Pacific rim, a message of strength and peace needs to be at the forefront.
President Biden’s choice to remain largely silent while continuously worrying about Ukraine and what is going on there only encourages this kind of saber-rattling from the hermit regime and continues to elevate the risk to our own troops as well as the people of SK. With the vow to defend them as well as Japan at a nuclear level, should North Korea make that a necessity, Austin’s appearance was also made to underscore the US commitment to that defense.
The concerns over a nuclear attack have been on a steady rise ever since the first barrage of frequent missile testing began back in 2022. While testing has been a part of the hermit regime’s intimidation tactics for years, they have always come in small and short bursts. Since 2022 however, they have launched a massive number of test periods, featuring a large number of launches, and featured tremendous parades to display their latest missiles before the launch.
While experts all agree that Kim wants Biden, the US, and the globe to accept and “respect” them as a nuclear entity, he has yet to realize that he cannot get that while his people are starving. His refusal to accept the truth of the world that exists right outside his border, and to tell them the realities of what he and his predecessors have done to their nation is why he will never get that respect.
