North Korea on Tuesday warned the U.S. and South Korea that interception of its "test of strategic weapon" would be considered a "declaration of war" against Pyongyang.
Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said in a statement that the Pacific does not belong to the U.S. or Japan.
"A South Korean press organ released on February 24th an indefinite report that the U.S. Indian-Pacific Commander said if we launch an inter-continental ballistic missile to the Pacific, it would be downed immediately," Kim said in her statement published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
She said her country's missile program is for self-defense and warned that intercepting their strategic weapons by the U.S. would be a declaration of war against North Korea.
"If such military action as interception is made against our test of strategic weapon conducted without any threat to the security of the neighboring countries in the open sea and open area not belonging to the control of the United States, it would precisely be construed otherwise than a declaration of war against the DPRK," she warned.
Military drills between U.S. and South Korean forces have also been described as "beyond the tolerable line" by Kim's powerful sister in the statement.
The U.S. and South Korea plan to begin 11-day joint military exercises on March 13.
The two allies on Monday also conducted joint air drills involving the U.S. nuclear-capable B-52 strategic bomber, ostensibly to demonstrate Washington's military might against Pyongyang.
In a separate statement, North Korea's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the Monday air drills, accusing the U.S. of deliberately escalating the situation on the Korean peninsula and in the region despite their warning.
"The U.S. nuclear strategic bomber B-52 flew today into the Korean peninsula again after three months and staged together with South Korea joint air drill for the fifth time this year. It is a reckless military provocation leading the situation on the Korean peninsula deep to an abyss with no way out," the ministry said in a statement published by KCNA.
"The recent joint air drill following the 'extended war deterrent means operation exercise' conducted in February clearly shows that the U.S. attempt to use nuclear weapons against our state is promoted on the level of actual war," it said, demanding an immediate halt to the military activities in the region.
"If the dangerous military provocation of the United States and South Korea is allowed to continue as now, there is no guarantee that a fierce physical conflict will not occur in the area of the Korean peninsula where huge armed forces of both sides are sharply confronted with each other," the ministry said.
