The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will punish the aggressors if the United States provokes a nuclear war against the DPRK, a senior DPRK officer said in Pyongyang on Tuesday.
"The DPRK can not remain a passive onlooker in face of the present serious situation where the sovereignty and right to existence of the country and nation are exposed to the worst threat owing to the US hawks who are pushing the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war," Kim Il Chol, minister of the People's Armed Forces, said at a national rally held in Pyongyang.
Kim accused the United States of groundlessly alleging that the DPRK has pushed ahead with a nuclear program, thus tightening its anti-DPRK policy.
He warned that the army and people of the DPRK will give "determined and merciless" punishment to the US aggressors with solid unity.
The DPRK and the United States have been locked in a seesaw battle since the nuclear issue arose in October.
(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2002)
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