WorldNorth Korea faced a chorus of condemnation on Tuesday for its latest ballistic missile tests but declared that ongoing joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises were aimed at conducting a “pre-emptive nuclear attack” against Pyongyang. Ju Yong Choi, a North Korean diplomat, told the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that the annual drills were “a major cause of escalation of tension that might turn into actual war” on the divided Korean peninsula. During the stormy 90-minute session, envoys from more than a dozen countries, including North Korea's main ally China, as well as Britain, France, Russia and the United States, condemned North Korea's test-firing of four ballistic missiles on Monday. Robert Wood, U.S. Disarmament Ambassador, condemned North Korea's tests as its latest violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The United States had an “iron-clad commitment to defend its allies” and the joint military exercises carried out with Seoul for more than 40 years were “transparent and defence-oriented”.

Source: Sunday Times March 07, 2017 12:11 UTC