Peninsula situation at ‘extreme red line’: North Korea

North Korea warns that drills by the United States and its allies have pushed the situation to an “extreme red line” and threaten to turn the peninsula into a “huge war arsenal and a more critical war zone”.

The statement, carried by state news agency KCNA, said Pyongyang was not interested in dialogue as long as Washington pursued hostile policies.

“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 US and its vassal forces,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in the statement on Thursday.

In Washington, the White House rejected the North Korean statement and reiterated a willingness to meet North Korean diplomats “at a time and place convenient for them”.

“We have made clear we have no hostile intent toward the DPRK and seek serious and sustained diplomacy to address the full range of issues of concern to both countries and the region,” a spokesperson said.

The North Korean statement cited a visit to Seoul this week by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. On Tuesday Austin and his South Korean counterpart vowed to expand military drills and deploy more “strategic assets”, such as aircraft carriers and long-range bombers, to counter North Korea’s weapons development and prevent a war.

“This is a vivid expression of the US dangerous scenario which will result in turning the Korean peninsula into a huge war arsenal and a more critical war zone,” the North Korean statement said.

North Korea would respond to any military moves by the United States, and had strong counteraction strategies, including “the most overwhelming nuclear force” if necessary, the statement said.

More than 28,500 American troops are based in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

“We reject the notion that our joint exercises with partners in the region serve as any sort of provocation. These are routine exercises fully consistent with past practice,” the White House statement said.

Last year, North Korea conducted a record number of ballistic missile tests, which are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions. It was also observed reopening its shuttered nuclear weapons test site, raising expectations of a nuclear test for the first time since 2017.

In New York, South Korea’s foreign minister, Park Jin, met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday and called for the UN’s continued attention to North Korea’s recent provocations and efforts to implement sanctions on the reclusive regime.