The daily "Rodong Sinmun" on Friday carried a commentator's article titled "The Source of the Situation of the Korean Peninsula on the Eve of Explosion Commented".

The article said:

The situation of the Korean peninsula is going to an uncontrollable dangerous state every moment.

The world is watching with serious concern the sharp confrontation between the nuclear powers at the critical point of the outbreak of war.

This grave situation was caused entirely by the reckless and outrageous moves of the United States and its followers to suffocate the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

As was widely known to the world, the DPRK has concentrated all its efforts on easing the military tension and keeping peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the region since the beginning of the year out of the desire to achieve new development and progress in the economic construction and the improvement of the people's living.

This year, too, in the wake of last year, however, the US-led hostile forces tenaciously resort to the hostile acts of great anxiety grossly infringing upon the sovereignty, security and interests of our state and its seriousness and danger are unpardonable any more.

In January last, the US Secretary of Defence visited south Korea and unhesitatingly revealed his attempt to use nukes against our state. He said they would deploy a greater number of strategic assets such as the 5G stealth fighters and aircraft carriers. The south Korean traitor Yun Sok Yol crazy for confrontation with fellow countrymen also went into an underground air-raid shelter and clamoured about "preparedness" and "punishment".

The war maniacs mad for bluff and ill-advised bravery announced in the first half of the year that they would conduct joint military exercises of high intensity beyond the level of the past "Foal Eagle" joint military exercises at least 20 times and frantically staged the powder-reeking north-targeted war exercises such as joint striking drill aimed at infiltrating into the DPRK and striking its strategic facilities and major core targets.

As it talked about constant stationing of the extended deterrent force, the United States shipped core air strategic weapons including the "B-1B" nuclear strategic bomber and stealth fighters such as "F-22" and "F-35B" into south Korea in February to conduct several joint air drills against us together with the south Korean puppets in the sky over the West Sea of Korea.

Especially, the US imperialists invited the south Korean puppets to the United States in late February to stage the so-called "exercise for extended deterrence and operation" which made a nuclear preemptive attack on us a fait accompli and vociferated that they would constantly deploy nuclear strategic assets on the Korean peninsula in the future, too.

Such reckless military confrontation and hostile acts drove the situation of the Korean peninsula to the point of danger just before explosion in March.

With a wicked plan to give military pressure to us, the United States sent nuclear submarines and Aegis destroyers, major strategic assets of the US Navy, to south Korea one after another.

On March 1, the US and south Korea warmongers deployed the latest-type missile tracking ship "Howard Laurenzen" of the US Navy in the East Sea of Korea and conducted espionage act with reconnaissance assets such as "RC-135S". On the 3rd, they staged a joint air drill involving all sorts of strategic hardware such as the strategic bomber "B-1B" and the drone for battle and attack "MQ-9 Ripper" which is notorious as "assassin of the sky" in the sky over the West Sea of Korea for the fourth time this year.

In the meantime, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of south Korea, in league with his master-the United States, inspected the training field for special "beheading operation" aimed at surprise attack on the strategic bases of the DPRK and the south Korean army units in the area adjacent to the front and incited the extreme frenzy of confrontation, saying that the "enemy's provocation has already begun" and that they would "punish" them.

Despite more dangerous and grave military and political situation of the Korean peninsula and the region, the United States sent the nuclear strategic bomber "B-52" again on the 6th to stage the fifth joint air drill and started the large-scale US-south Korea joint military exercise "Freedom Shield" on the 13th.

The reality clearly shows that the danger of outbreak of nuclear war on the Korean peninsula is shifted from the virtual stage to the practical stage.

All the military exercises conducted by the United States in league with the south Korean puppets find their seriousness in the fact that they are provocative actual manoeuvres, preliminary nuclear war simulating a total war on us.

As for the "Ssangryong" joint landing drill aimed at "occupying Pyongyang", they have revived it which had been suspended for five years, but also openly blare that its scale and scope will be the greatest-ever.

The US imperialists advertize their war exercises as "defensive" ones, but it is a shameless sophistry which turned black into white.

Even the United States will not deny that the nuclear strategic bomber "B-52H", the supersonic strategic bomber "B-1B", nuclear carriers and submarines and the stealth fighter "F-35" it has shipped into the Korean peninsula and the region around it frequently this year, too, as well as last year are not the defensive military hardware but the most offensive ones merely carrying out the mission of strategic strike.

Nobody in the world will believe that the constant deployment of the US nuclear strategic assets in the Korean peninsula and the infiltrating, surprise landing and advancing drills of special units staged according to the war scenarios aimed at the "end of government", "beheading operation" and "occupation of Pyongyang" are not "defensive" ones.

Now the hostile forces resort to the dangerous military adventure and viciously move to isolate and suffocate the DPRK with their immoral and illegal sanctions while finding fault with the so-called "human rights issue".

The United States and its satellite forces cook up all sorts of rumours about "threat" and spread them on the international arenas including the United Nations in a bid to "devilize" the DPRK. They also attach preposterous labels such as "luxury" to the articles badly needed for the everyday life of the Korean people in order to prevent even one of them from going into our territory.

Since it can no longer isolate us internationally with the nuclear issue, the United States whip up the rigtag of its satellite forces for conspiratorial moves against the DPRK on the international arena.

The negative influence by the moves of the United States and other hostile forces to stifle the DPRK is not restricted only to the Korean peninsula.

Now the United States actively eggs the south Korea and Japan on to reinforcing armaments of great anxiety under the pretext of implementing the "Indo-Pacific strategy" aimed at keeping the hegemony of military strategy in the region. It also moves in every way to change the military balance of the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia in favour of the US-led alliance system.

While devoting itself to establishing a new military bloc like the "Asia-version NATO" in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States tries to build up "integrated deterrent forces" involving the military forces of its satellite states such as the "OCAS" and thus form a ring of encircling the regional powers and steadily isolate and weaken them in a bid to attain the goal for its supremacy.

The development and introduction of "high-yield ballistic missile" by the south Korean puppets and their attempt to launch a military reconnaissance satellite and possess a nuclear submarine, and Japan's moves to introduce "Tomahawk" cruise missiles for securing "the capacity for attacking the enemy's base" and develop hypersonic missiles show that the moves of the United States and its followers for arms buildup are exceeding the intolerable danger line.

Today, the Korean peninsula is turned into a world's greatest powder magazine and field for war exercises owing to the frantic moves of the United States and its followers for military expansion

It is a well-known fact that the security environment of the region becomes dangerous and the root of the international peace and security severely sways due to the United States instigating division and confrontation and hindering stability and development for its hegemony.

Everything has its cause and reason.

As the international community makes a correct assessment, the the situation of the Korean peninsula has reached the worst state at present because the United States refused to respond to the positive measures taken by our state and on the contrary, continued to intensify its pressure on the DPRK and threat to it by force of arms.

This year alone, we made clear on several occasions that the frequent joint exercises of the United States and the south Korean puppets which have set unrealistic and very dangerous aim such as the "end of government" of the sovereign state and used all kinds of threatening rhetorical expressions to worsen the regional situation are the cause of lasting the vicious cycle of situation on the Korean peninsula and strongly demanded them put an immediate end to their military hostile acts disturbing peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region.

Ignoring the just demand of the DPRK and the international community, however, the United States is driving the situation of the Korean peninsula and the region to the limit point that cannot be neglected any more.

In coping with the development of the grave situation in which the sovereignty and security of the state are threatened to the intolerable level, the Workers' Party of Korea and the government of the DPRK could not but take resolute and decisive measures to thoroughly control the military threats of the hostile forces and defend peace and security of the Korean peninsula and the region.

Our nuclear forces do not exist for advertisement.

They can be used at any time, if necessary, to carry out the sacred mission of national defence. In case of a conflict which is escalated dangerously, they can be also used preemptively at any time according to a strategic attempt.

The intercontinental ballistic missile "Hwasongpho-17" launching drill staged this time clearly suggests it.

We will continue to neutralize with our overwhelming strength the reckless military provocations of the United States and its followers.

Clearly stipulated in the DPRK Law on the Policy of Nuclear Forces are the principles and conditions on the use of nukes in different situations for coping with the military threats and attacks from outside against our state.

If anyone tries to infringe upon the sovereignty and security of the DPRK, our nuclear forces will perform their crucial mission.

There is no guarantee that a fierce physical conflict will not occur in the region of the Korean peninsula where huge armed forces of both sides are sharply confronted with each other if the dangerous military provocative moves of the United States and south Korea constantly remain indifferent to like now.

In case such conflict becomes reality, not only the stability of the region but also the security crisis of the United States will be uncontrollable and catastrophic.

The United States must put an immediate stop to its reckless military provocations and war exercises against the DPRK.