By Josh Smith
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean state media launched a white paper on Sunday accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of exposing his nation to the hazard of nuclear struggle via his insurance policies towards the North.
The doc, compiled by North Korea’s Institute of Enemy State Research and launched by state information company KCNA, criticised Yoon’s “reckless remarks” about struggle, abandoning parts of an inter-Korean settlement, participating in nuclear struggle planning with the US, and in search of nearer ties with Japan and NATO.
“Its ever-worsening military moves resulted only in the paradoxical consequences of pushing (North Korea) to stockpile its nuclear weapons at an exponential rate and further develop its nuclear attack capability,” the paper mentioned.
Yoon, a conservative, has taken a tough line on North Korea, which has cast forward with growing its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of United Nations Safety Council resolutions.
His administration blames North Korea for elevating tensions with weapons assessments and offering army support and troops to help Russia’s struggle in Ukraine.
Pyongyang has been taking steps to sever inter-Korean ties,
redefining the South as a separate, hostile enemy state, since Kim Jong Un declared it a “primary foe” early this yr and mentioned unification was now not potential.
North Korea blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and rail traces on its aspect of the closely fortified border between the 2 Koreas final month, and satellite tv for pc imagery reveals it has since constructed massive trenches throughout the previous crossings.
The 2 Koreas are nonetheless technically at struggle after their 1950-53 struggle led to an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The 2 Koreas have additionally clashed over balloons of trash floated since Could from North Korea. Pyongyang has mentioned the launches are a response to balloons despatched by anti-regime activists within the South.
Sunday’s white paper additionally listed Yoon’s home political woes, together with scandals involving his spouse, which have pushed his approval rankings to report lows.
In the meantime, the US on Sunday deployed B-1B bombers for joint aerial drills with South Korea and Japan, in response to North Korea’s current launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, based on South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Employees.
The army train confirmed the three international locations’ sturdy dedication to responding to the North’s nuclear and missile threats via cooperation, the Joint Chiefs of Employees mentioned in a press release.
That is the second time this yr that the three international locations carried out joint air drills and the fourth time in 2024 that the US deployed its strategic bombers on the Korean peninsula, the Joint Chiefs of Employees mentioned.
