Off the wire
Belarus hopes for better relations with EU  • About 50 pct Haitian children suffer from waterborne diseases  • Indian stocks open flat  • "Zootopia" becomes top-earning animation in China  • What we know about Brussels terror attacks  • Economic Watch: Supply-side structural reform to bring vitality to Asia  • Xinhua China news advisory -- March 23  • No increased terror threat in Sydney following Brussels attacks  • News Analysis: With historic Cuba visit, Obama eyes legacy, Latin America  • Urgent: Private U.S. cargo ship blasts off towards space station  
You are here:   Home

Pyongyang threatens to strike South Korean presidential office

Xinhua, March 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday threatened to launch retaliatory strikes at South Korea's presidential office, in response to the ongoing joint military drills by South Korea and the Untied States.

The DPRK's armed forces will be oriented to wage a retaliatory battle to eliminate South Korean President Park Geun-hye's administration, said a statement issued by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea and carried by the state-run news agency KCNA.

The strikes may start from the presidential office, Chongwadae, or nearby locations, it added.

The statement threatened that once the buttons of large-caliber multiple rocket launchers are pushed, the presidential office would be "reduced to a sea in flames and ashes."

On Monday, DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un guided the test firing of a new-type large-caliber multiple rocket launcher, the second time he has watched the test firing of the newly developed rocket launching system in a month.

When guiding the test firing of the new-type rocket launcher for the first time on March 3, Kim ordered the military to be prepared to fire the country's deployed nuclear warheads at any time.

On March 7, South Korea and the United States kicked off their joint annual war games, dubbed "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle".

The "Key Resolve" command post exercise ended last Friday, but the "Foal Eagle" field training exercises will last until April 30.

Pyongyang has repeatedly condemned the joint military exercises, claiming that they are "war rehearsals for northward invasion." Endi