U.S. forces are ready to “fight tonight,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned North Korea.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warns U.S. forces are ready to “fight tonight” after North Korean threats.
- Austin’s warnings come after Kim Yo Jong stated that if Biden’s administration “wants to sleep in peace,” they would have to “refrain causing a stink.”
- Kim Jong Un’s sister’s reaction was triggered by the U.S. military resuming drills in South Korea.
On Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claimed that the country “remains ready to fight tonight” after Kim Yo Jong, sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, threatened the states to “refrain from causing a stink.”
As FOX News reports, Austin’s warning comes after the dictatorship condemned military drills taking place in South Korea. Kim Yo Jong slammed the U.S. for resuming drills in South Korea after pausing exercises in February 2020 due to coronavirus concerns.
During a press conference, Biden’s defense secretary discussed the military’s commitment to “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Austin also mentioned “the importance of maintaining military readiness.” He stated:
“Our force remains ready to ‘fight tonight,’ and we continue to make progress toward the eventual transition of wartime Operational Control to a [Republic of Korea]-commanded, future Combined Forces Command. While meeting all the conditions for this transition will take more time, I’m confident that this process will strengthen our alliance.”
The defense secretary’s warning was provoked by Kim Jong Un’s sister’s threats. As per Reuters, Kim Yo Jong said in a statement to state news agency KCNA:
“We take this opportunity to warn the new U.S. administration trying hard to give off powder smell in our land. If it wants to sleep in peace for [the] coming four years, it had better refrain causing a stink at its first step.”
Experts question whether the U.S. should settle for a deal that would freeze North Korea’s nuclear activities.
In case Biden agrees to make a deal with the dictatorship, the U.S. would have to prevent its arsenal from growing in return.
However, specialists insisted that North Korea may further raise animosities with missile tests to boost its negotiation leverage.
In a joint statement, Secretary Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, and their South Korean counterparts said that North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile issues are “a priority for the alliance.”
