N. Korea says S. Korea, U.S. will pay 'terrible price' if they use force

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday said the U.S. and South Korea will pay a terrible price should they decide to attack the North, arguing the allies' ongoing joint military drills are aimed at preparing for a potential invasion.

Pak Jong-chon, secretary of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, also called on Seoul and Washington to halt what he claimed to be military provocation against Pyongyang.

"Should the U.S. and South Korea attempt to use force against us, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea military's special forces will immediately carry out the strategic mission they have been given, and the U.S. and South Korea will face a terrifying event and pay a terrible price," the North Korean official said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"They must keep in mind that taking this as a mere warning itself will be a huge mistake under current circumstances," Pak added, according to KCNA.

The statement comes as Seoul and Washington are holding combined air drills, called Vigilant Storm.

A spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry on Monday (Seoul time) accused the joint military exercises of being a "ceaseless and reckless" military provocation.

Pak argued the exercise was named after Operation Desert Storm, code name for military operations in the 1990-1991 Gulf War, and that it represents the allies' intention to provoke, if not invade, North Korea.

The North Korean official also took issue with the recently released U.S. National Defense Strategy and Nuclear Posture Review, in which the U.S. Department of Defense said a nuclear attack by North Korea against the U.S. or its allies will result in the "end" of the North Korean regime.

"What is clear is that the ongoing joint air exercise of the U.S. and South Korea that was resurrected after five years is an extension of such provocation," said Pak.
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