U.S. Defense officials: North Korean threats are 'bellicose rhetoric'
Kim Jong Un is briefed by his
generals in this undated photo. On the wall is a map titled "Plan for
the strategic forces to target mainland U.S."
North
Korea's threatening rhetoric has reached a
fever pitch, but the Pentagon and the South Korean government have said it's
nothing new.
"We have no indications at this point that it's
anything more than warmongering rhetoric," a senior Washington Defense
official said late Friday.
The official was not authorized to speak to the media and
asked not to be named.
State media: North
Korea in 'state of war' with South
The National Security Council, which advises the U.S.
president on matters of war, struck a similar cord. Washington
finds North Korea's
statements "unconstructive," and it does take the threats seriously.
"But, we would also note that North Korea has
a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats, and today's announcement follows
that familiar pattern," said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the
security council.
The United
States will continue to update its
capabilities against any military threat from the North, which includes plans
to deploy missile defense systems.
No, North Korea
can't hit Hawaii
North
Korea's hot rhetoric
Pyongyang's propaganda
machine flung new insults at the United States on Saturday.
It compared the U.S. mainland with a "boiled
pumpkin," unable to endure an attack from a foreign foe, the state-run
Korean Central News Agency reported.
North
Korea, on the other hand, could sustain an
offensive from the outside, the report said. It claimed the government had
built shelters around the country "against any enemy nuclear and chemical
weapons attack."
The rhetoric and military show of force by the North have
heated up in the face of annual joint military exercise between South Korean
and U.S.
forces called Foal Eagle.
The routine maneuvers are carried out in accordance with the
armistice that put an end to armed hostilities in 1953. There was no peace
treaty to officially end the war.
North
Korea's threat: Five things to know
The North Korean government declared the armistice invalid
on March 11, 10 days after Foal Eagle began. It is something Pyongyang has done before during heightened
tensions.
In an added slap, North Korea
has declared that it had entered a "state of war" with neighboring South Korea,
according to a report Saturday from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
"The condition, which was neither war nor peace, has
ended," North Korea's
government said in a special statement carried by KCNA.
Saturday's reports also asserted any conflict "will not
be limited to a local war, but develop into an all-out war, a nuclear
war."
The statements made the prospect of war contingent upon
"a military provocation ... against the DPRK" in sensitive areas on
the border between North and South.
Source: CNN
Source: CNN
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