North Korea’s leader warned Tuesday that the current situation with South Korea has become “very grave,” Agence France-Presse reports.
Kim Jong Un made the statement at a meeting with top military leaders one day after his country and South Korea traded artillery fire at sea and two days after North Korea said it would test a new kind of nuclear weapon. According to the North Korean leader, the joint-military drills between South Korea and the U.S. are to blame for the rise in tensions.
“The United States and other hostile forces, ignoring our magnanimity and goodwill, are viciously stepping up their maneuvers in order to annihilate our republic politically, isolate it economically and crush it militarily,” Kim Jong Un said at the meeting, according to the official North Korean news agency KCNA.
The surge in tensions between the two Koreas comes a month after a rare thaw in relations. February saw both the first family reunions in four years and the first high-level meeting in six years.
[AFP]
More Must-Reads from TIME
- How Donald Trump Won
- The Best Inventions of 2024
- Why Sleep Is the Key to Living Longer
- Robert Zemeckis Just Wants to Move You
- How to Break 8 Toxic Communication Habits
- Nicola Coughlan Bet on Herself—And Won
- Why Vinegar Is So Good for You
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Contact us at letters@time.com