World War 3: US Navy continues war drills despite North Korea threatening a nuclear strike
THE US Navy has started a series attack drills off the Korean Peninsula as Kim Jong-un threatens nuclear destruction, it has been revealed.
North Korea brands US military drills 'rehearsal for invasion'
The drills are to increase pressure on North Korea in a bid to make it give up its nuclear programme.
But the rogue state claims it is a “rehearsal for war” and insiders think it could be preparing another missile launch in retaliation.
Commander of US Pacific Air Force General Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy said North Korea is “truly a threat to us all”.
He added: “Although countries like North Korea threaten regional peace and security, our allied air power must be ready to respond with rapid, lethal and overwhelming force to respond to preserve our interests.”
A fleet of 40 ships led by the nuclear powered USS Ronald Reagan is holding the drills with South Korean ships to simulate a war with North Korea.
North Korea has threatened the US with an “unimaginable” strike in response to the drills.
KCNA made the announcement as US and South Korean warships are conducting military tests near the country’s peninsula.
The puppet news agency said: "The US is running amok by introducing under our nose the targets we have set as primary ones. The US should expect that it would face unimaginable strike at an unimaginable time.”
The drills are part of a five-day joint effort between the US and South Korea that involved fighter jets, helicopters and naval ships.
It comes following months of tensions with North Korea after two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles earlier this year.
The missile is believed to be capable of reaching the continental US.
North Korean officials rejected a proposal to hold direct talks with their South Korean counterparts in St Petersburg.
Moscow had called on the two countries, who are both represented at a parliamentary forum in Russia, to use the opportunity to hold direct talks to try to narrow their differences over Pyongyang's missile programme.
But the head of the North Korean delegation, said Pyongyang had rejected the idea.
A statement from North Korea said: “The US reckless military gambling against DPRK may lead to its total destruction.
“The DPRK is ready to counter the war of aggression with a war of justice and cope with the enemy's dagger with a sword and his rifle with an artillery piece.”
It also accused the US of a “sinister” plot “to provoke a nuclear war by all means so as to totally destroy the DPRK and exterminate the population of the north”.