North Korea puts rocket units on 'highest alert,' issues new threats against US
It
was announced that North Korea has now ordered rockets and long-range
artillery units to be targeted towards U.S. military bases on Guam,
Hawaii and the mainland. Analysts believe the threats are only to
bolster the appearance of power for new leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea stepped up its aggressive rhetoric on Tuesday, ordering its rocket and long-range artillery units to be combat ready and on the "highest alert" and issuing new threats against U.S. bases on Hawaii, Guam and mainland America.
Pyongyang warned that U.S. facilities would be "reduced to ashes and flames the moment the first attack is unleashed," according to a military order issued by the pariah state’s military "supreme command."
It comes in response to joint military drills by U.S. and South Korean forces which began in the area early this month and which have seen U.S. bombers flying sorties threatening the North.
Rodong Sinmun via EPA
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects an army landing exercise on Monday.
The announcement marked a further increase in military rhetoric from Pyongyang, and followed a threat last week that it would attack U.S. bases in the Pacific if its "enemies … make even the slightest movement."
It came as South Korea marked the third anniversary of the sinking of one its navy vessels, blamed on North Korea, which left 46 sailors dead.
Pyongyang previously threatened nuclear attack on the United States and South Korea, although it is not believed to have the capability to hit the continental United States with an atomic weapon. However, Reuters reported that U.S. military bases in the Pacific area are in range of its medium-range missiles.
The
isolated nation has threatened to attack American military bases in
Japan and Guam in retaliation for the U.S. conducting military exercises
with South Korea. On Wednesday, major South Korean banks and media
companies were hacked.
The military statement, also posted on the KCNA website,
said: "From this moment the… supreme command will put on the highest
alert all the field artillery units including strategic rocket units and
long-range artillery units which are assigned to strike bases of the
U.S. imperialist aggressor troops in the U.S. mainland and on Hawaii and
Guam and other operational zone in the Pacific as well as all the enemy
targets in south Korea and its vicinity."Voice of America’s Northeast Asia bureau chief, Steve Herman, quoted South Korean radio station MND saying Tuesday’s announcement is the first time North Korea has referred to "Il-ho" — its highest level combat readiness posture.
Steve Herman @W7VOA
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