By Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea’s defense minister No Kwang Chol threatened on Saturday to take “more offensive action” as he condemned U.S. security talks with Seoul and the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in South Korea.
A day earlier, North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast, following fresh U.S. sanctions against North Korean individuals and entities that Washington said were involved in cyber-related money-laundering schemes.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement on Saturday: “While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilising impact of the DPRK’s actions.”
No said the visit of the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington to Busan, South Korea, this week escalated tensions on the Korean peninsula.
“We will show more offensive action against the enemies’ threat on the principle of ensuring security and defending peace by dint of powerful strength,” No said, according to North Korean state media KCNA.
South Korea’s navy said the carrier’s visit was to replenish supplies and grant leave for the crew.
No also criticised a recent visit by U.S. and South Korean defence chiefs to the border between North and South Korea, as well as their subsequent security talks in Seoul, alleging they were conspiring to step up deterrence efforts towards the North and to integrate their nuclear and conventional forces.
“This is a stark revelation and an unveiled intentional expression of their hostile nature to stand against the DPRK to the end,” No said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his South Korean counterpart Ahn Gyu-back on Monday visited the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone along the border with North Korea. The officials also held what they called a security consultative meeting in Seoul on Tuesday.
Hegseth said the core of the alliance with Seoul will remain focused on deterring North Korea, although Washington will look at flexibility for U.S. troops stationed in South Korea to operate against regional threats.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Diane Craft and Edmund Klamann)
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