North Korean white paper says South’s president has raised risk of nuclear war
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Farmers protest against the launch of anti-North Korean leaflets, which are planned to be sent by a group representing families of South Korean abductees, in Paju, South Korea, on Oct 31.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
SEOUL - North Korean state media released a white paper on Nov 3 accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of exposing his country to the danger of nuclear war through his policies towards the North.
The document, compiled by North Korea’s Institute of Enemy State Studies and released by state news agency KCNA, criticised Mr Yoon’s “reckless remarks” about war, abandoning elements of an inter-Korean agreement, engaging in nuclear war planning with the United States, and seeking closer ties with Japan and Nato.
“Its ever-worsening military moves resulted only in the paradoxical consequences of pushing (North Korea) to stockpile its nuclear weapons at an exponential rate and further develop its nuclear attack capability,” the paper said.
Mr Yoon, a conservative, has taken a hard line on North Korea, which has forged ahead with developing its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles
His administration blames North Korea for raising tensions with weapons tests and providing military aid and troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang has been taking steps to sever inter-Korean ties, redefining the South as a separate, hostile enemy state, since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared it a “primary foe” early in early 2024 and said unification was no longer possible.
North Korea blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas in October, and satellite imagery shows it has since built large trenches across the former crossings.
The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
They have also clashed over balloons of rubbish floated since May
The Nov 3 white paper also listed Mr Yoon’s domestic political woes, including scandals involving his wife, which have driven his approval ratings to record lows.
Meanwhile, the US on Nov 3 deployed B-1B bombers for joint aerial drills with South Korea and Japan, in response to North Korea’s recent launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The military exercise showed the three countries’ strong commitment to responding to the North’s nuclear and missile threats through cooperation, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
This is the second time in 2024 that the three countries conducted joint air drills and the fourth time that the US deployed its strategic bombers on the Korean peninsula, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. REUTERS
