The Foreign Ministry cited an uptick in navy exercise by the US and its allies South Korea and Japan within the area of late
The Korean Peninsula might quickly descend into a brand new disaster, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has warned. A senior diplomat attributed the rising tensions primarily to an growing US navy presence within the area.
Speaking to the news company TASS on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Monday, Georgy Zinoviev, the pinnacle of the Foreign Ministry’s First Asia Department, argued that the “dynamics of events on the Korean Peninsula indicates that a new crisis is approaching.” He cited the more and more warlike rhetoric coming from each North Korea and the US, in addition to South Korea and Japan. The diplomat additionally famous that Washington and its allies have been ramping up joint navy maneuvers within the area.
“For example, for the first time since 1981 an American Kentucky submarine with nuclear-capable ballistic missiles has appeared in South Korean waters,” Zinoviev advised reporters.
He additionally famous that trilateral US-South Korea-Japan missile protection workouts are being held extra often than earlier than.
Washington’s claims that these drills are purely defensive in nature are arduous to imagine, he stated, including that the maneuvers even have “anti-Russian and anti-Chinese undertones.“
He went on to emphasize that de-escalation would solely be doable if the US and its regional allies placed on maintain their navy maneuvers and revised their sanctions-based strategy.
Last week, North Korea unveiled a brand new “tactical attack submarine” able to launching nuclear missiles in a ceremony attended by the nation’s chief, Kim Jong-un.
The North Korean chief additionally revealed that Pyongyang was working to rework current submarines in order that they, too, might carry nuclear weapons.
Back in July, Washington deployed its USS Kentucky nuclear-capable submarine off the coast of South Korea, citing the necessity to counter “provocations.“
Earlier this month, North Korea introduced that its navy had carried out a “tactical nuclear attack” drill to “warn the enemies of the actual danger of nuclear war,” as reported by state news company KCNA.
In mid-August, the nation’s protection minister, General Kang Sun-nam, warned {that a} nuclear battle on the Korean Peninsula was inevitable.
The nuclear strike simulation got here within the wake of US-South Korea Ulchi Freedom Shield 23 workouts that featured a minimum of one American B-1B nuclear-capable strategic bomber.