US, South Korea warn Pyongyang against using nuclear weapons

North Korea has fired more than two dozen missiles in the past two days in response to US-South Korean military exercises that began on Monday.

The launch has left South Koreans scrambling for shelter and worsening the nerves of a population already mourning the loss of more than 150 people in a horrific Halloween crowd crush.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup issued a joint statement after a meeting at the Pentagon on Thursday, saying they “strongly condemned” North Korea’s growing military resilience, including ballistic missile test launches, multiple Rocket launches and coastal artillery are included. ,

resulting in any use of nuclear weapons, including low-yield tactical nuclear devices, against other regional allies such as Seoul or Japan. Kim Jong Un Governance by the Coalition’s overwhelming and decisive response,” Lee said in a joint press conference with Austin.

The US and South Korea will “work out response options for all possible nuclear use scenarios” by North Korea, Lee said.

Austin said North Korea’s increased aggression would not result in more US troops or assets, such as an additional aircraft carrier, being permanently relocated to the region, but that Kim would see a large US military presence moving there.

In September, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan visited Korea for the first time in five years, Austin said.

“Kim will see the property go in and out,” Austin said.

In its launch on Thursday, North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, which was strongly condemned by the White House, which alleged phiongyang of “destabilizing the security situation in the region”.

The US and South Korea announced that the “Vigilant Storm” military exercise, which was due to last until Friday, would be extended indefinitely.

Tensions between the US and North Korea have also escalated over new unclassified reports that it is providing Russia with artillery to use against Ukraine.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said North Korea was sending an undisclosed number of artillery shells to Russia, but was “trying to pretend they were being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa.”

North Korea has reacted to previous US-South Korean military exercises with missile tests, which was one reason former President Donald Trump called for the drills to be called off for more than a year as he pushed back on his pursuit of nuclear unsuccessfully negotiated with the North Korean leader to conclude. Weapons, weapons.

Large-scale US-South Korean military exercises resumed this year. According to the Pentagon, this fall’s “vigilant storm” – involving more than 1,600 US and South Korean flights involving about 240 warplanes – is the largest exercise ever.

North Workers’ Party secretary Pak Jong Chon, considered a confidant of Kim Jong Un, has called the US-South Korean air force exercises “aggressive and provocative”.

“If the US and South Korea attempt to use armed forces against (North Korea) without fear, the special means of (North’s) armed forces will carry out their strategic mission without delay,” Pakistan said. Said it in a clear context. country’s nuclear weapons.

North Korea has been testing a series of nuclear-capable missiles in recent months and has adopted a law authorizing the pre-use of its nuclear weapons in a wide range of circumstances. Some experts still doubt that North Korea will first use nuclear weapons before the US and South Korean forces.

The ballistic missile tests conducted on Wednesday involved at least 23 missiles as well as around 100 artillery shells that were fired in the Eastern Maritime Buffer Zone. South Korea’s military said the 23 weapons were all short-range ballistic missiles or suspected surface-to-air missiles.

One of the ballistic missiles was flying towards Uleung Island, South Korea, before it eventually landed 167 kilometers (104 mi) northwest of the island.

South Korea’s military issued an air strike alert on the island, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. South Korean media published photos of island residents moving into underground shelters.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said at least two ballistic missiles fired by North Korea probably showed an “irregular” trajectory. This suggests that the missile was the North’s highly maneuverable, nuclear-capable KN-23 missile, modeled on Russia’s Iskander missile.

In response to the missile barrage, South Korea quickly launched its missiles in the same border area.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.