Vampirate Kitsune
Apocalyptic Cutesmasher
25,215 Points
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200
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25
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25
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Quote:
North Korea threatens to launch 'precision attack' missiles at U.S. Navy bases
North Korea today threatened to launch 'precision attack' weapons at U.S. Navy bases if the country is provoked.
The country's supreme military command said it had the bases in Guam and Okinawa in their sights.
The North has responded angrily to reports that the United States has flown B-52 bomber sorties over the Korean peninsula as part of the annual military drills with South Korean forces.
A North Korean command spokesman, who was quoted by KCNA news agency, said: 'The United States is advised not to forget that our precision target tools have within their range the Anderson Air Force base on Guam where the B-52 takes off, as well as the Japanese mainland where nuclear powered submarines are deployed and the navy bases on Okinawa.'
North Korea earlier made a threat to stage a nuclear attack on the United States, something that is well outside of its current military capacity, although the U.S. Pacific bases are in range of its medium range missiles.
It comes following reports today that North Korea had issued an air raid warning.
The warning was issued at 0032 GMT and carried a message to military units to stand ready, but the action appeared to be a drill under an air raid scenario, Yonhap news agency said.
An official at South Korea's Unification Ministry , which handles ties with the North and monitors North Korea's news broadcasts, confirmed the air raid warning on Thursday morning.
North Korea has stepped up its military exercises in response to what it regards as 'hostile' joint drills by South Korea and the United States after Pyongyang was sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council for a nuclear test in February.
It is not known if North Korea possesses drones, although a report on South Korea's Yonhap news agency last year said that it had obtained 1970s-era U.S. target drones from Syria to develop into attack drones.
"The (drone) planes were assigned the flight route and time with the targets in South Korea in mind, Kim Jong Un said, adding with great satisfaction that they were proved to be able to mount (a) super-precision attack on any enemy targets," KCNA reported.
It is extremely rare for KCNA to specify the day on which Kim attended a drill.
It also said that a rocket defense unit had successfully shot down a target that mimicked an "enemy" Tomahawk cruise missile.
The official could not confirm whether the warning was part of a drill. The two Koreas remain technically at war under a truce that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Tensions have been high with the rivals exchanging verbal barbs.
North Korea has said it has abrogated an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and threatened a nuclear attack on the United States.
Earlier in the day, KCNA denounced U.S. moves that it said were aimed at staging a "preemptive nuclear strike" on North Korea, citing the deployment of a U.S. B-52 bomber over the Korean peninsula as well as what it said were nuclear-armed submarines.
The U.S. and South Korea say their drills are defensive.
Tensions have mounted on the Korean peninsula since North Korea staged its first successful long-range rocket launch in December. It followed this up with its third nuclear weapons test in February.
Pyongyang is barred from developing missile and nuclear-related technology under U.N. sanctions imposed after previous nuclear tests.
Earlier Wednesday, China's new leader, Xi Jinping, said he would offer to promote "reconciliation and cooperation" on the Korean peninsula.
Most military experts say that the North will likely not launch an all-out war against South Korea and its U.S. ally due to its outdated weaponry.
Pyongyang is viewed as more likely to stage an attack along a disputed sea border between the two countries as it did in 2010 when it shelled a South Korean island, killing four people.
Such a move would provide a major test for new South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who took office pledging closer ties with the North if it abandoned its nuclear push.
North Korea today threatened to launch 'precision attack' weapons at U.S. Navy bases if the country is provoked.
The country's supreme military command said it had the bases in Guam and Okinawa in their sights.
The North has responded angrily to reports that the United States has flown B-52 bomber sorties over the Korean peninsula as part of the annual military drills with South Korean forces.
A North Korean command spokesman, who was quoted by KCNA news agency, said: 'The United States is advised not to forget that our precision target tools have within their range the Anderson Air Force base on Guam where the B-52 takes off, as well as the Japanese mainland where nuclear powered submarines are deployed and the navy bases on Okinawa.'
North Korea earlier made a threat to stage a nuclear attack on the United States, something that is well outside of its current military capacity, although the U.S. Pacific bases are in range of its medium range missiles.
It comes following reports today that North Korea had issued an air raid warning.
The warning was issued at 0032 GMT and carried a message to military units to stand ready, but the action appeared to be a drill under an air raid scenario, Yonhap news agency said.
An official at South Korea's Unification Ministry , which handles ties with the North and monitors North Korea's news broadcasts, confirmed the air raid warning on Thursday morning.
North Korea has stepped up its military exercises in response to what it regards as 'hostile' joint drills by South Korea and the United States after Pyongyang was sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council for a nuclear test in February.
It is not known if North Korea possesses drones, although a report on South Korea's Yonhap news agency last year said that it had obtained 1970s-era U.S. target drones from Syria to develop into attack drones.
"The (drone) planes were assigned the flight route and time with the targets in South Korea in mind, Kim Jong Un said, adding with great satisfaction that they were proved to be able to mount (a) super-precision attack on any enemy targets," KCNA reported.
It is extremely rare for KCNA to specify the day on which Kim attended a drill.
It also said that a rocket defense unit had successfully shot down a target that mimicked an "enemy" Tomahawk cruise missile.
The official could not confirm whether the warning was part of a drill. The two Koreas remain technically at war under a truce that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Tensions have been high with the rivals exchanging verbal barbs.
North Korea has said it has abrogated an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and threatened a nuclear attack on the United States.
Earlier in the day, KCNA denounced U.S. moves that it said were aimed at staging a "preemptive nuclear strike" on North Korea, citing the deployment of a U.S. B-52 bomber over the Korean peninsula as well as what it said were nuclear-armed submarines.
The U.S. and South Korea say their drills are defensive.
Tensions have mounted on the Korean peninsula since North Korea staged its first successful long-range rocket launch in December. It followed this up with its third nuclear weapons test in February.
Pyongyang is barred from developing missile and nuclear-related technology under U.N. sanctions imposed after previous nuclear tests.
Earlier Wednesday, China's new leader, Xi Jinping, said he would offer to promote "reconciliation and cooperation" on the Korean peninsula.
Most military experts say that the North will likely not launch an all-out war against South Korea and its U.S. ally due to its outdated weaponry.
Pyongyang is viewed as more likely to stage an attack along a disputed sea border between the two countries as it did in 2010 when it shelled a South Korean island, killing four people.
Such a move would provide a major test for new South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who took office pledging closer ties with the North if it abandoned its nuclear push.
