North Korea: US Aircraft Carriers Creating Worst Ever Situation

The presence of three US aircraft carriers off the Korean Peninsula is pushing the region closer to nuclear war, according to a North Korean letter to the United Nations secretary-general.

The three carriers, the USS Ronald Reagan, USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Nimitz, and their multi-ship strike groups are finishing up four days of exercises in the waters between South Korea and Japan on Tuesday, CNN reported.

It is the first time three of the 100,000-ton behemoths have sailed together in the Western Pacific together in a decade. They have been joined by several South Korean and Japanese warships during the exercise.

The exercises, which also have involved US B-1 bombers, are creating “the worst ever situation prevailing in and around the Korean Peninsula,” North Korea’s UN Ambassador Ja Song Nam said in a letter to the secretary-general on Monday.

Washington “is now running amok for war exercises by introducing nuclear war equipment in and around the Korean Peninsula, thereby proving that the US itself is the major offender of the escalation of tension and undermining of the peace,” the letter read.

  Nuke Sites Too Developed to Destroy Quickly

Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday it would not be easy for reclusive North Korea to destroy its nuclear arsenal quickly, even if wanted to, given its weapons programs were so developed, Reuters reported.

Speaking to reporters in the Philippines, Moon said that if North Korea agreed to hold talks, negotiations could be held with all options open.

“If talks begin to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue, I feel it will be realistically difficult for North Korea to completely destroy its nuclear capabilities when their nuclear and missile arsenal are at a developed stage,” Moon said in a briefing.

“If so, North Korea’s nuclear program should be suspended, and negotiations could go on to pursue complete denuclearization.”