SEOUL, Aug. 27 (UPI) — North Korea on Thursday condemned U.S. approval of a possible $125 million sale of Sidewinder missiles and related equipment to South Korea, warning of a “serious, immediate and powerful response.”<\/p>\n
In a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the proposed sale and other recent U.S. actions “hostile moves adversely affecting the security environment of the DPRK and the regional situation.”<\/p>\n
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson cited last week’s U.S. State Department approval of a possible sale<\/a> of 103 AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II tactical missiles, 10 tactical guidance units and related equipment to South Korea.<\/p>\n The statement also pointed to U.S. approvals this year involving naval helicopters, attack helicopter upgrades and precision-guided munitions.<\/p>\n In May, the State Department approved a possible $3 billion sale<\/a> of 24 MH-60R multi-mission helicopters and a $1.2 billion upgrade package<\/a> for South Korea’s AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. It approved a possible $106 million sale<\/a> of Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits and related equipment in June.<\/p>\n The sales are “encouraging the ROK to boost its capability to fight a war,” the spokesperson said, using the official acronym for South Korea.<\/p>\n “Now that the military integration of the U.S. and its allies is being accelerated in the Asia-Pacific region, we cannot overlook the adverse effect of the U.S. sale of its weapons to the ROK on the regional security environment,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The statement also criticized a State Department funding initiative announced last week that would provide up to $2.96 million for projects<\/a> documenting human rights abuses in North Korea and countering Pyongyang’s propaganda and influence operations.<\/p>\n The spokesperson called the initiative a “human rights smear campaign” aimed at creating instability in North Korea’s political system.<\/p>\n The DPRK “will make a serious, immediate and powerful response to the hostile acts in different spheres,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The statement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes to restart direct diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.<\/p>\n Trump last week abruptly ordered<\/a> the United States and South Korea to curtail their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise, citing its cost and saying the drills sent an “inappropriate and hostile” signal to Pyongyang.<\/p>\n North Korea has so far shown little inclination to engage, however. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of Kim Jong Un, said last week that Pyongyang had “no interest”<\/a> in the reduction of the drills.<\/p>\n “If the U.S. calculates that it can propagate its recent measure as the one of so-called good faith, they will not get desired answer,” she said.<\/p>\n