The Sun :
NORTH Korea has said it is ready for a “total war” threatening the “final doom of the US” as Donald Trump continues to stage military drills with South Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to accelerate its nuclear weapons programme to “maximum pace” and test a nuclear device “at any time”, as tensions rise around the Korean peninsula. The North’s official KCNA news agency said on Tuesday: “The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war. “Any military provocation against the DPRK will precisely mean a total war which will lead to the final doom of the US.” It comes as the US military announced its controversial Thaad missile defence system is now operational in South Korea.
Thaad, which stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, was placed at a former golf course in the central county of Seongju amid protests.
Angry residents fear the system will make the area a target for attacks endangering lives.On Monday, the US flew training drills with South Korea and Japanese air forces in another show of strength.
Two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers were deployed amid rising tensions over North Korea’s pursuit of its nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of United Nations sanctions and pressure from the US.
The US air force said in a statement the bombers had flown from Guam to conduct training exercises with the South Korean and Japanese air forces. South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said the joint drill was conducted to “deter provocations”.
