North Korea said Saturday
its military is ready to pre-emptively attack and "liberate" the
South if it sees signs that American and South Korean troops involved in the
drills were attempting to invade the North.
The declaration from General
Staff of the North's Korean People's Army on state media is the latest outburst
over the drills that the U.S. and South Korea say are defensive and routine. At
the start of the drills on Monday, the North warned of an indiscriminate
"pre-emptive nuclear strike of justice" on Washington and Seoul.
The KPA said it will counter
the drills by the United States and South Korea it says are aimed at advancing
into Pyongyang with plans to "liberate the whole of South Korea including
Seoul" and also that it is capable of executing "ultra-precision
blitzkrieg" strikes against enemy targets.
In response to North's
statement, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff called for North Korea to stop
its threats and "rash behavior" and warned that a provocation from
the North would result in the destruction of its highest leadership.
A pre-emptive large-scale
strike by North Korea against the South is highly unlikely when that would
almost certainly bring to an end the authoritarian rule of leader Kim Jong Un
given the likely military response of the U.S. and South Korea.
Analysts say the North's
bellicose rhetoric is also intended for its domestic audience to display
government strength ahead of a major meeting of the ruling party in May. It is
expected that Kim will use the Workers' Party convention, the party's first
since 1980, to announce important state goals and shake up the country's
political elite to further consolidate his power.
North Korea has condemned the
annual military drills staged by Seoul and Washington in South Korea, calling
them preparations for an invasion. This year, the drills follow the North's
recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.