SEOUL: North Korea on Monday condemned the US’ possible sale of advanced arms to South Korea and Japan, calling it a dangerous action that increases tension in the region and brings a new weapons race, officials media reported.
According to the KCNA news agency, the defence ministry of North Korea said that Pyongyang would step up steps to establish war deterrence to reply to instability in the region which it said was caused by Washington and its allies. Tokyo plans to purchase 400 Tomahawk missiles from Washington, part of its biggest military build-up since World War II.
Earlier, the US Defence Department said the US State Department had approved the possible sale in an agreement valued at S$3.2 billion. Washington has recently announced the approval of a potential sale of Standard Missile 6 Block I and Sidewinder missiles to South Korea.
North Korea Criticizes Possible Sale of US Missiles to South Korea, Japan
North Korea’s statement said that they warned that the more American profits from indiscriminate weapons sales, the more it would have to pay for the security issues. North Korea has been criticizing what it called “military threats” from Washington and its allies, adding it would show “more offensive and overwhelming counteraction abilities” in reply.
Earlier, on Wednesday, North Korea stated it had successfully carried out static tests of “new-type high-thrust solid-fuel engines” for IRBMs, which it claimed were essential for improving its military’s strategic offensive abilities.
