SEOUL: North Korea’s foreign ministry has condemned a US planned sale of Apache helicopters to South Korea, official media KCNA said on Friday, pledging to take additional measures to bolster its self-defense.
In a statement, the Pentagon said that the US State Department has given approval to the potential sale of Apache helicopters and related logistics and support to South Korea for an estimated $3.5 billion. Reuters cited an unnamed senior official of North Korea as he criticizing the sale plan as a move to aggravate tension, alongside the annual military drills by the allies in the region. The official termed it a reckless provocative act of deliberately increasing the instability in the region.
The official accused the United States of escalating military confrontation, “disturbing the military balance and thus increasing the danger of a new conflict” in the region by supplying lethal arms to its friends and allies.
North Korea’s “strategic deterrence will be further strengthened to secure the national security and interests and the regional peace,” the statement added, promising to steadily conduct military activities to enhance self-defense.
