Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/SEOUL: The Foreign Ministry of North Korea said on Thursday that the drills by the United States (US) and its partners have pushed the situation to the “extreme red line” and threatened to turn the peninsula region into a “big war arsenal and more than a war zone.”
State news agency, KCNA, said that Pyongyang was not interested in negotiations as long as Washington pursues hostile policies.
An unnamed ministry spokesperson said that “the army and political situations on the Korean peninsula and in the zone has reached an extreme red line due to the reckless army confrontational maneuvers and hostile acts of the US and its vassal forces.”
The White House, meanwhile, rejected the North Korean statement and reiterated the willingness to meet with North Korean diplomats “at a place and time convenient for them.”
US: white house stance
A spokesperson for the White House said that “we made clear we have no hostile intent toward the DPRK and sought serious and sustained diplomacy to address the range of problems of concern to both countries and the region.”
The North Korean statement cited the visit to Seoul this week by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Austin and his South Korean counterpart also vowed to expand army drills and deploy more “strategic assets,” such as aircraft carriers and long-range missiles, to counter North Korea’s arms development and prevent a war.
