North Korea warns of ‘war’ in response to US Navy moves

Kim Jong Un

North Korea has vowed to defend itself using a “powerful force of arms” should the US keep sending ships toward the Korean peninsula, reports say.

The Hermit Kingdom’s foreign ministry warned early Tuesday local time that it was ready for “war” in the event of further military moves like the one seen Sunday, when a US Navy strike group was sent to the region as a show of force against the communist nation.

North Korean officials, who were quoted by state news agency KCNA, said the act displayed “reckless moves for invading” and was ultimately proof that tensions between President Trump and leader Kim Jong Un had “reached a serious phase,” according to Agence France-Presse.

“The DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US,” a spokesman for North Korea’s foreign ministry said.

“We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs in order to defend ourselves by powerful force of arms,” they added. “We will hold the US wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions.”

Trump has been an outspoken critic of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and has promised to deal with Pyongyang alone, should the Chinese refuse to help.

Many believed his strike on Syria last week was meant to be a warning to the country and its leaders.

Some suspect that the North will conduct a nuclear test in the coming days as its military prepares to celebrate the 105th birthday of its founding leader Saturday. Pyongyang has so far staged five nuclear tests, with two of them being reported last year.

South Korea and the US have been conducting joint military drills recently, which have been viewed by the North as an act of war and preparation for invasion.

On Sunday, Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, told Fox News that a strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, was being rerouted from Singapore toward the Korean peninsula as a “prudent” show of force.

The advance happened just days after North Korea launched another missile test into the Sea of Japan in advance of Chinese Xi Jinping’s summit with Trump in Florida.