North Korea has released a statement, which states that they had tested weapons for a pre-emptive strike against their neighbour, with the statement coinciding with testing conducted on Tuesday July 19, 2016 of three long range ballistic missiles.
Reuters previously reported that it is likely that the ballistic missiles tested in the seas off the east coast of Korea on July 19, 2016 were tested to simulate an attack on South Korean airfields and ports that are used by US military.
The Korean Central News Agency said: “The drill was conducted by limiting the firing range under the simulated conditions of making pre-emptive strikes at ports and airfields in the operational theatre in South Korea where the US imperialists' nuclear war hardware is to be hurled.”
NATO has condemned the testing, stating: “The launches are in direct violation of several United Nations Security Council Resolutions, including Resolution 2270 adopted on March, 2, 2016, which repeatedly call for North Korea to cease all activities related to its ballistic missile programme.”
Conflict between North Korea and South Korea dates back to 1950, after Korea was liberated from Japan and the cold war split the nation between Russian supported North Korea and US supported South Korea.
North Korea sent troops over the border in June, 1950 and the war concluded in 1953 with an armistice.
Due to previous nuclear and missile tests conducted by North Korea, the US and China had blocked the nations shipping earlier this year.
Since this conflict, tensions have been high between the two nations and the secretive nature of North Korean government and military has been making many western world leaders uneasy.
In a statement, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: “The launches violate North Korea’s international obligations and constitute a threat to regional and international security and stability.”
