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| ▲ This undated EPA file photo shows a North Korean flag. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
N Korea-US officials
N. Korea slams upcoming S. Korea visit by Blinken, Austin
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday denounced upcoming visits to Seoul by top U.S. officials, branding them as a "field inspection" by "war zealots."
The North's criticism came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to arrive here later in the day for talks on North Korea, the alliance and regional issues, amid growing concerns over the North's closer military ties with Russia.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is set to visit Seoul next week for annual bilateral defense ministerial talks and attend an inaugural defense ministerial meeting, involving the member states of the United Nations Command, a U.S.-led multinational force established to support South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.
"The provocative behavior of the United States brings up the impression of war zealots who have embarked on a field inspection for a second Korean War," Kim Myong-chol, an international affairs critic, said in a commentary carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
Claiming that Blinken and Lloyd's upcoming visits will bring about "new war clouds" in the Asia-Pacific region, the commentator said it depends on Washington's behavior whether new geopolitical risks will form or not in the region.
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