U.S., S. Korean Warmongers Will Have to Pay High Price for Their Reckless War Drills: Spokesman for KPA General Staff

Pyongyang, August 17 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army Sunday issued a statement denouncing the United States and the south Korean puppet forces for setting about the Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercises again.
    The statement said:
    The UFG is dangerous nuclear war drills aimed to mount a surprise preemptive strike at the DPRK under the deceptive signboard of "tailored deterrence" and adventurous ones to be staged under the simulated conditions of an actual war designed to ignite a "local and total war" any time under the pretext of non-existent "provocation" of someone.
    The General Staff of the Korean People's Army clarified the principled retaliatory stand of the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK to cope with the war maniacs' reckless war moves against it, the statement said, and went on:
    Now that the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces declared a war against the DPRK by announcing their plan to apply the "tailored deterrence strategy" to an actual war, we re-clarify that the Korean-style most powerful and advanced merciless preemptive strike will start any time chosen by us.
    If we strike the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces, they should be hit hard without any excuse and if we are determined, large and small bases for aggression will be reduced to a sea in flames and ashes.
    The projected war maneuvers for aggression made the U.S. imperialists' scenario for their permanent presence in south Korea clear and brought the puppet authorities' sycophancy towards the U.S. and acts of treachery into bolder relief.
    Under this situation, we unhesitatingly make public that our revolutionary armed forces will launch successive powerful physical offensives to resolutely terminate all this.
    What we cannot overlook any longer is the U.S. imperialists' invariable attempt at their permanent presence in south Korea and the heinous acts of treachery of the puppet forces, modern-day five traitors of 1905.
    Now that they more openly revealed their attempt never to give up their sinister ambition for "bringing down the social system in the north and occupying it" and "achieving unification through absorption" by putting the war maneuvers "on a regular and annual basis", our revolutionary armed forces will intensify their military counteraction for foiling them on a regular and annual basis.
    Absolutely unpardonable are all crimes adding to the pent-up grudges of all Koreans under the pretext of "regular and annual drills."
    The U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces will have to pay a dear price for their acts of going against the nation, reunification and peace as they reacted to all the peace initiatives and proposals made by the DPRK with good faith and magnanimity with extremely dangerous war maneuvers.
    They bitterly regretted that they fought a wrong war with a wrong rival and in the wrong time and place. They should never regard this as what happened in the Korean war.
    They should bear in mind that our revolutionary armed forces are sure to emerge an eternal victor and the enemies are fated to meet a miserable doom. -0-