North Korea warns of more "offensive actions"

2025-11-08 11:58:40, Kosova & Bota CNA

North Korea's defense minister warned of more "offensive actions" as Washington and Seoul criticized Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile launch.

North Korea's missile launch on Friday came less than a week after US President Donald Trump, during a rally in the region, expressed interest in meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang did not respond to this offer.

Phanian Defense Minister No Kwang Chol said Washington has "become bold in its military actions threatening the security" of the North, and that it is "deliberately escalating political and military tension in the region."

"We will not spare more offensive actions against the threat of enemies," he said, according to Pyongyang's state news agency, KCNA.

Earlier in the week, ahead of Friday's missile launch, US Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and his South Korean counterpart visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), where they "confirmed the strong position of mutual defense and close cooperation" between their countries.

On Wednesday, the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan for logistical support, according to Seoul's navy, a move that North Korea's No called a "further escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula."

No also said that Hegseth's visit to the DMZ was intended to "incite war hysteria."

The US Indo-Pacific Command said on Friday that North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch "underscores the destabilizing impact" of Pyongyang's actions, adding that the United States is "consulting closely with our allies and partners."

South Korea's armed forces strongly condemned the North's missile launch.

In a statement, Seoul's military "calls on North Korea to immediately stop all actions that increase tensions between the two Koreas."

Trump last week also announced that he had approved South Korea's plan to build a nuclear-powered submarine.

Developing such a submarine would mark a significant step for South Korea's naval base and defense industry, analysts said, putting the country in a small group of countries that have such ships. They also said the North is likely to react aggressively to such plans by the South./REL