Seoul praises Pyongyang for making 'wise' decision to avoid showdown

By Park Sae-jin Posted : April 26, 2017, 16:13 Updated : April 27, 2017, 07:53

[Yonhap Photo]


South Korea praised North Korea Wednesday for making a "wise" decision to avoid a military showdown after leader Kim Jong-un led a live-fire exercise involving conventional weapons instead of ballistic missile launches or a nuclear test.

The exercise marking the founding anniversary of North Korean armed forces on Tuesday involved submarines, bombers, jet fighters, and hundreds of large-caliber self-propelled guns along the coast near the North's eastern port city of Wonsan.
 

[Yonhap Photo]

 

[Yonhap Photo]


Backed by bombers and fighters, submarines made torpedo attacks at enemy warships in a simulated attack apparently targeting a US aircraft carrier strike group which is sailing into waters near the Korean peninsula for joint drills with South Kora.

More than 300 large-caliber self-propelled guns opened fire simultaneously, according to Pyongyang's state media. South Korea regards the North's long-range artillery and large-caliber multiple rocket launchers as a grave security threat.

The live-fire drill was hostile enough to get on the nerves of North Korea watchers, but South Korea heaved a sigh of relief because Pyongyang made no serious provocations like nuclear or missile tests.
 

[Yonhap Photo]

 

[Yonhap Photo]


"I am very glad that North Korea did not make any nuclear and missile provocations, and I think they've made a wise decision," Seoul's unification ministry spokesman Lee Duk-haeng told reporters.

Pyongyang has stepped up its rhetoric as the American strike group led by aircraft carrier Carl Vinson sails toward the Korean Peninsula. The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, made a port call in South Korea on Tuesday.

North Korea's defense minister Pak Yong-sik has warned of a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States and its allies.
 

[Yonhap Photo]



In Washington, Lindsey Graham, a ranking Republican senator, said Tuesday that President Donald Trump would not let North Korea develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that can strike the United States with a nuclear weapon on top of it.

"Pres @realDonaldTrump is NOT going to let the nutjob in North Korea develop a missile -- with a nuclear weapon on top -- that can hit the US," Graham tweeted. 
 
Trump "doesn't want a war any more than I do, but he's not going to let them get a missile. That's where they're headed. And China needs to up their game to stop this before it gets too late," he said.

Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com

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