N Korea threatens to turn Japan into 'nuclear sea of fire'
Kyodo News via JapanToday.com | 24 Sep
SEOUL North Korea threatened Thursday to turn Japan into a "nuclear sea of fire" if the United States attacks it with nuclear weapons, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting a North Korean newspaper report.
Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of North Korea's Workers Party of Korea, said U.S. military bases in Japan would come under its attack in the event of a nuclear war.
"If the United States ignites a nuclear war, the U.S. military bases in Japan would serve as a detonating fuse to turn Japan into a nuclear sea of fire," the paper said in an article, according to Yonhap.
The article claimed that the danger of a nuclear war in Northeast Asia keeps escalating as a result of Washington's push to realign its military presence in this part of the world.
"The U.S. selection of Japan as the most important vantage point in implementing its Korean and Asian military strategy is designed to put into practice its long-range attack strategy," it said.
The threat comes as Japanese and U.S. reconnaissance information indicate that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire either a Rodong or a Taepodong ballistic missile or conduct a missile engine combustion test, Japanese government sources said Thursday.
The data, mainly from radio and U.S. reconnaissance satellites around the middle of last week, has led the Japanese government to set up an ad hoc office at the Prime Minister's Office and send aircraft, an Aegis-equipped destroyer and other vessels to the Sea of Japan to gather further information.
Kyodo News via JapanToday.com | 24 Sep
SEOUL North Korea threatened Thursday to turn Japan into a "nuclear sea of fire" if the United States attacks it with nuclear weapons, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting a North Korean newspaper report.
Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of North Korea's Workers Party of Korea, said U.S. military bases in Japan would come under its attack in the event of a nuclear war.
"If the United States ignites a nuclear war, the U.S. military bases in Japan would serve as a detonating fuse to turn Japan into a nuclear sea of fire," the paper said in an article, according to Yonhap.
The article claimed that the danger of a nuclear war in Northeast Asia keeps escalating as a result of Washington's push to realign its military presence in this part of the world.
"The U.S. selection of Japan as the most important vantage point in implementing its Korean and Asian military strategy is designed to put into practice its long-range attack strategy," it said.
The threat comes as Japanese and U.S. reconnaissance information indicate that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire either a Rodong or a Taepodong ballistic missile or conduct a missile engine combustion test, Japanese government sources said Thursday.
The data, mainly from radio and U.S. reconnaissance satellites around the middle of last week, has led the Japanese government to set up an ad hoc office at the Prime Minister's Office and send aircraft, an Aegis-equipped destroyer and other vessels to the Sea of Japan to gather further information.
