DPRK military threatens physical response against US THAAD deployment
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s military said on July 11 it will take "physical response" to a move by the United States and the Republic of Korea (RoK) to deploy the advanced THAAD missile defense system to the Korean peninsula to counter the threat from the DPRK.
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The United States and the RoK said on July 8 that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system will be used as defense against the DPRK's growing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.
The announcement was the latest move by the allies against the DPRK which conducted its fourth nuclear test this year and launched a long-range rocket, resulting in tough new UN sanctions and a series of bilateral sanctions against it.
"There will be physical response measures from us as soon as the location and time that the invasionary tool for US world supremacy, THAAD, will be brought into the RoK," the DPRK's military said in a statement.
"It is the unwavering will of our army to deal a ruthless retaliatory strike and turn (the RoK) into a sea of fire and a pile of ashes the moment we have an order to carry it out," the statement carried by the official KCNA news agency said.
The DPRK frequently threatens to attack the RoK and US interests in Asia and the Pacific.
The move to deploy the THAAD system, which drew a swift and sharp protest from China, came a day after the US Treasury Department blacklisted leader DPRK leader Kim Jong Un for human rights abuses.
