North Korea has warned the United Kingdom faces a ‘miserable end’ if it joins the ongoing tensions on the peninsula.
In a stark warning to Britain, Kim Jong-un used his government news agency to tell Theresa May not to follow the aggressive rhetoric of Donald Trump.
The Korean Central News Agency reported: ‘We solemnly warn not only the US and the puppet group but also satellites, including the UK and Australia, which are taking advantage of the present war manoeuvres against the North.’
Yesterday, North Korean state media showed Kim Jong-un (pictured) standing next to the diagram of an intercontinental ballistic missile
Wednesday, North Korean state media showed Kim standing next to the diagram of an intercontinental ballistic missile more powerful than any it has previously tested.
The image of the three-stage rocket known as the Hwasong-13 suggested he is fiercely pursuing the creation of a weapon capable of striking anywhere on the US mainland
It also follows a further escalation in the war of words between the country and US President Donald Trump, in which Kim accused America of leading a ‘beheading operation’ to oust the Korean leader.
North Korea’s military said in a statement that it would launch an unspecified ‘merciless retaliation and unsparing punishment’ on the United States over the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills that began Monday for an 11-day run.
Despite the threat, an unprompted direct attack is extremely unlikely because the United States vastly outguns Pyongyang, which values the continuation of its dictatorship above all else.
Impoverished North Korea hates the annual drills in part because they force it to respond with expensive military measures of its own.
The North Korean statement accused the United States of deploying unspecified ‘lethal’ weapons for the drills that it says involve a ‘beheading operation’ training aimed at removing absolute ruler Kim Jong-un.
With most of the food going to the army, millions of ordinary people are struggling to eat every day. Pictured: : A North Korean long-range rocket is launched
The Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills in South Korea – which themselves are a response to the North’s nuclear tests – are largely computer-simulated
The country condemned the military drills the US is conducting with the South and branded Trump ‘weird’ and ‘ego-driven’, not long after Trump claimed Kim was starting to ‘respect’ him.
Kim also threatened to turn the US into ‘a heap of ashes’ in response to the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills currently being held in South Korea.
In a special alert last month, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation the country’s ‘early-season crop production’ was down to a third of the level it was last year.
It added: ‘More rains are urgently needed to avoid significant decreases in the main 2017 cereal production season. Should drought conditions persist, the food security situation is likely to further deteriorate.’
Meanwhile sanctions have been imposed on North Korea aimed at slashing its annual export revenue of £2.3billion by a third.
But these penalties are expected to hit ordinary Koreans, from coal mine workers to fishermen.
North Korea (pictured in 2010) is facing its worst famine in decades as Kim Jong-un obsesses over his nuclear program, it has been claimed
Millions of North Koreans are believed to be suffering as a result of international sanctions and the drought currently crippling the country
North Korea is facing its worst famine in decades as Kim Jong-un obsesses over his nuclear program, it has been claimed.
Millions of North Koreans are believed to be suffering as a result of international sanctions and the drought currently crippling the country.
With most of the food going to the army, millions of ordinary people are struggling to eat every day, according to Japanese documentary maker Jiro Ishimaru who has a network of citizen journalists in the country.
‘For one thing, there are too many soldiers to feed,’ said Ishimaru, adding that the best food would still only be reserved for top officers
Recent images of Kim standing next to diagrams of a rocket follows a further escalation in the war of words between the country and US President Donald Trump. Pictured: North Korean farmers in 2012
North Korea has condemned the military drills (pictured) the US is conducting with the South
The sanctions have been imposed on North Korea aimed at slashing its annual export revenue of £2.3billion by a third. Pictured: A missile is fired during the combined military exercise between the US and South Korea
North Korea has also branded Trump ‘weird’ and ‘ego-driven’, not long after Trump claimed Kim was starting to ‘respect’ him