DPRK urges US to leave ROK, halt military drills

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday urged the US military to leave the Republic of Korea (ROK), pledging to build up the DPRK's nuclear weapons in response to the upcoming joint US-ROK military drills.

Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea of the DPRK, said in a statement released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that the United States and the ROK desperately started joint military exercises, further accelerating the unstable situation "despite the unanimous denunciation and rejection at home and abroad".

"They are the most vivid expression of the US hostile policy towards the DPRK, designed to stifle our state by force, and an unwelcoming act of self-destruction for which a dear price should be paid as they threaten the safety of our people and further imperil the situation on the Korean peninsula," said Kim, who is also the younger sister of the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un.

The joint US-ROK military exercises include an "exercise of the staff for crisis control" on Aug 10-13 and a "combined command exercise" on Aug 16-26, according to the KCNA.

"The dangerous war exercises pushed ahead by the US and the ROK side disregardful of our repeated warnings will surely make them face more serious security threat," she warned.

She urged the United States to withdraw its troops from the ROK, saying "for peace to settle on the peninsula, it is imperative for the US to withdraw its aggression troops and war hardware deployed in the ROK".

As long as the US forces stay in the ROK, "the root cause for the periodic aggravation of the situation on the Korean peninsula will never vanish", Kim said.