N. Korea warns of more ‘offensive action’ after latest missile launch

North Korean defence minister No Kwang Chol said Washington ‘has become brazen in its military moves to threaten the security’ of the North. (AFP pic)

SEOUL: North Korea’s defence minister warned Saturday of more “offensive action”, as Washington and Seoul criticised Pyongyang’s latest ballistic missile launch.

North Korea’s missile launch on Friday came just over a week after US President Donald Trump — on a tour of the region — expressed interest in meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang did not respond to the offer.

Pyongyang’s defence minister No Kwang Chol said Washington “has become brazen in its military moves to threaten the security” of the North, and that it was “intentionally escalating the political and military tension in the region”.

“We will show more offensive action against the enemies’ threat,” he said, according to Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Earlier in the week, before Friday’s launch, US Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and his South Korean counterpart visited the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) where they “reaffirmed the strong combined defence posture and close cooperation” between their countries.

On Wednesday, the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan for logistics support and crew rest, according to Seoul’s navy — an act North Korea’s No said was “further escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula”.

No also said Hegseth’s DMZ visit was meant to “fan up war hysterics”.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said Friday that North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch “highlights the destabilising impact” of Pyongyang’s actions, adding that the US was “consulting closely with our allies and partners”.

South Korea’s military had strongly condemned Pyongyang’s missile launch.

Seoul’s military “urges North Korea to immediately cease all actions that heighten tensions between the two Koreas”, it said in a statement.

Trump last week also announced that he had approved South Korea’s plan to build a nuclear-powered submarine.

Developing such a submarine would mark a significant leap in South Korea’s naval and defence industrial base, analysts say, joining a select group of countries with such vessels.

They have said Seoul’s plan to construct an atomic-driven vessel would likely draw an aggressive response from Pyongyang.

South Korean lawmakers, briefed by the defence intelligence agency, said earlier this week that Pyongyang appears ready to promptly carry out what would be its seventh nuclear test, should leader Kim decide to proceed.