By Li Hongmei
Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) says his rocket forces are ready "to settle accounts with the U.S." in response to U.S. nuclear-capable B-2 bombers joined military drills with South Korea.
Kim Jong Un's comments in a meeting with senior generals early Friday are part of a rising tide of threats meant to highlight anger over the drills and recent U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear test.
The DPRK's state media says Kim signed a rocket preparation plan and ordered rockets on standby to strike the U.S. mainland, South Korea, Guam and Hawaii.
The U.S. military announced Thursday that two B-2 stealth bombers were sent to South Korea to participate in a training exercise, demonstrating the Pentagon's commitment to defend its ally against threats from the DPRK.
The two B-2 Spirit bombers flew more than 6,500 miles from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to South Korea, dropping inert munitions before returning to the U.S., according to a statement released by U.S. Forces Korea.
"The United States is steadfast in its alliance commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea, to deterring aggression, and to ensuring peace and stability in the region," the statement said.
The B-2 Spirit is capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear weapons. The Pentagon said the mission was part of its ongoing Foal Eagle training exercise series, which began March 1 and ends April 30.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday afternoon that the move was part of normal exercises and not intended to provoke a reaction from North Korea.
The exercise, though, was announced a day after the DPRK said it had shut down a key military hotline usually used to arrange passage for workers and goods through the Demilitarized Zone.
The hotline shutdown follows a torrent of bellicose rhetoric in recent weeks from Pyongyang, which is angry about annual South Korea-U.S. military drills and U.N. sanctions over its nuclear test last month. North Korea calls the drills rehearsal for an invasion; Seoul and Washington say the training is defensive in nature and that they have no intention of attacking.
North Korea's threats and provocations are seen by not a few analysts as efforts to provoke the new government in Seoul, led by President Park Geun-hye, to change its policies toward Pyongyang. And the moves at home to order its troops into "combat readiness" tend to be viewed as ways to build domestic unity as young leader Kim Jong Un strengthens his military credentials.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters that Pyongyang's "latest threat to cut off communication links coupled with its provocative rhetoric is not constructive to ensuring peace and stability on the peninsula."
Although the DPRK has vowed nuclear strikes on the U.S., analysts outside the country have seen no proof that its scientists have yet mastered the technology needed to build a nuclear warhead small enough to mount on a missile. Many analysts believe there is no evidence that Pyongyang's missiles can hit the U.S. mainland. But it has capable short- and mid-range missiles.
