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    North Korean Media Says Nuclear War ‘Lurking Like a Time Bomb' on Peninsula

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    On Friday, a researcher from North Korea's Social Science Institute issued a warning in the country's Rodong Sinmun newspaper that inter-Korean talks have not lowered the threat of a nuclear war on the peninsula.

    According to Choe Song-ho, the author of the article, the US is playing a major role in increasing the likelihood of a nuclear war through its continued hostility toward North Korea.

    "What [the US] wishes all the time is not the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula but the instability of the situation and the aggravation of military tensions," Choe Song-ho wrote. "The situation of the Korean Peninsula is still severe even if the currents of dialogue and peace flow ostensibly."

    The researcher later criticized North Korean crisis talks that Canada and the US held in Vancouver on January 16 and deemed the event as evidence that the Land of the Free is trying to galvanize opposition to the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

    For Choe, as long as the US maintains a military presence in South Korea, there is no chance that North Korea would be willing to engage in denuclearization talks. Until the US departs, "a dark vortex of nuclear war is lurking like a time bomb [on the Korean Peninsula]."

    Choe's comments come on the same day South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon indicated that the country's northern neighbor was planning to hold an "intimidating" military parade to mark the anniversary of the Korean People's Army (KPA) on February 8.

    "There is a high possibility that the North could hold an intimidating military parade by mobilizing sizable numbers of the military personnel and almost all of its weapons," Cho told a forum in Seoul. "The North seems to be preparing for major events massively on the ground as the regime marks the 70th anniversary of its creation and its leader Kim Jong-un apparently wants to show his absolute power."

    The US, South Korea and a number of other allies have held a variety of military exercises on and around the Korean Peninsula over the course of 2017, including "decapitation strike" drills intended to practice taking out North Korea's leadership. North Korea calls the military maneuvers so close to its borders provocative, as do members of the UN Security Council.

    February 8 is also the day before the Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin. North Korea is sending a delegation to Pyeongchang and North and South Korea recently agreed that their athletes will enter the games under one flag.


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    Nuclear War, Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK), Korean Peninsula, South Korea
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