North Korea threatens to strike with 'absolute force' as drills continue
Less than 24 hours after annual US and South Korean military drills began in South Korea, Pyongyang accused Donald Trump of being "unimaginably reckless" in his handling of the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.
In a commentary published on Tuesday by state run news agency KCNA, the North Korean regime said the drills could very easily be repurposed into a full-blown invasion of the Hermit Kingdom.
"No one can vouch that these huge forces concentrated in South Korea will not go over to an actual war action now that the military tensions have reached an extreme pitch," the statement said.
Despite warnings from South Korean president Moon Jae-in against provocation during the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian drills, Kim Jong-un's Workers' Party of Korea went on to make further threats against the United States, saying it would turn it into a "huge heaps of ashes" as the military exercises had worsened the standoff to the point where it could only be resolved by "absolute force."
US intelligence services believed Kim Jong-un to be "at least a year" away from possessing and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the US mainland, but have recently undertaken measures aimed at tightening the purse strings of the North by imposing several trade sanctions agreed upon by regional superpowers Russia and its neighbour, historical ally and closest trade partner, China.
On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department released the names of 10 Chinese and Russian businesses, as well as six individuals that had been added to its list of sanctions for alleged connections to North Korea's ICBM program.