North Korea threatens to turn the Pacific Ocean into a shooting range
Still from video released by North Korea's KRT, showing what it says is a ballistic missile launched from an undisclosed location in North Korea.
PA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The tone is rising on the Korean peninsula.
This Monday, February 20, North Korea fired two new ballistic missiles from its east coast and Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader's sister, threatened to turn the Pacific Ocean into a firing range.
A reaction which follows a weekend where the two camps showed their muscles with a long-range missile launch in the North and aerial exercises in the presence of American bombers in the South.
Why are relations straining again between the two Koreas?
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With our correspondent in Seoul,
Nicolas Rocca
North Korea will make its enemies pay "
the price of their actions
" and threatens to turn the Pacific Ocean into a shooting range if the American offensive acts continue.
The words of
Kim Jong-un's sister
on the morning of February 20, accompanied by two short-range ballistic missile fires, testify to North Korean firmness.
While since the beginning of January the tension had subsided, the prospect of the American-South Korean exercises on Wednesday made Pyongyang react.
South Korea and the United States will hold mock North Korean nuclear strike exercises, including scenarios of an equally nuclear response from the two allies.
► To read also:
North Korea unveils a record amount of missiles during a large military parade
Each side seeks to show that it is ready for a very hypothetical confrontation
Thus,
in less than 48 hours
, a North Korean long-range ballistic missile came crashing down in Japan's exclusive economic zone, and several American B-1b bombers flew over the Korean peninsula.
Pyongyang insists on the speed of the missile launch on Saturday, described as "
surprise
".
Same lexical field in the South with aerial maneuvers that demonstrate
the "immediate deterrent capacity
" of the allies.
Each camp seeks to show that it is ready for a very hypothetical confrontation.
The week promises to be tense on the peninsula as North Korea promised that the South Korean and American military exercises would meet with an “
unprecedented
” response.
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