North Korea Warns Of Fire Shower of Nuclear Retaliation
June 25, 2009 by national
Filed under World Report
North Korea condemned a recent U.S. pledge to provide nuclear defense of South Korea, saying Thursday that the move boosts its justification to have atomic bombs and invites a potential “fire shower of nuclear retaliation.”
The commentary in Pyongyang’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper was the North’s latest reaction to last week’s summit between President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. The allies issued a joint statement committing the U.S. to defend the South with nuclear weapons.
It also came as an American destroyer trailed a North Korean ship suspected of shipping weapons in violation of a U.N. resolution punishing Pyongyang’s May 25 nuclear test, and as anticipation mounted that the North might test-fire short- or mid-range missiles in the coming days.
The North’s newspaper claimed that the “nuclear umbrella” commitment made it more likely for the U.S. to mount a nuclear attack on the communist North, and only “provides us with a stronger justification to have nuclear deterrent.”
