News / Koreas

North Korea vows ‘total destruction’ of its enemies on war anniversary

Sunday, 28 July 2024 7:10 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 July 2024 7:10 AM ]

Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, visits the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 26, 2024. (File photo by KCNA via Reuters)

North Korea has threatened to annihilate its enemies in case a war breaks out when leader Kim Jong Un gives an order.

During a meeting on Saturday, attended by Kim to celebrate the 71st Korean War armistice anniversary, senior military officials including Army Colonel Ri Un Ryong and Navy Lieutenant Commander Yu Kyong Song made the comments “out of surging hatred” towards the US and South Korea, according to KCNA.

North Korea’s top brass said the US and South Korea are “hell-bent on provoking a nuclear war,” vowing to strengthen war efficiency to stage an “overwhelming attack on the enemy anytime and without delay and totally destroy them once the respected Supreme Commander Kim Jong-un gives an order.”

Kim has repeatedly warned regional countries against expanding ties with the West, saying that Pyongyang was strengthening its armed forces to confront the US and its regional allies in a war that could “break out at any time” on the Korean Peninsula.

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Pyongyang and Washington have cut all diplomatic ties between them, and the past peace talk attempts for reducing tensions and denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula have been stalled since 2019.

Earlier this month, South Korea and the US authorized a guideline on establishing what they called an integrated system of extended deterrence for the Korean peninsula, which raised security concerns in the region.

Washington and Seoul claim the guideline will counter nuclear and military threats from North Korea.

Last October, Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo conducted their first-ever joint drills after US President Joe Biden and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts signed a trilateral security pact at Camp David in August.

China, Russia, and North Korea voiced concern about the US efforts to militarize the Asia-Pacific through a growing spider’s web of security agreements.

KCNA, however, recently said that North Koreans did not expect any future changes in their relations with the West no matter who is next elected in the White House.

The three-year Korean War ended on July 27, 1953, when North Korea signed an armistice agreement with the United States and China.

The day is regarded as “Victory Day” in North Korea and it is celebrated each year with major events. There are no corresponding events in South Korea and the day is not celebrated.

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