US rejects claim of war on DPRK

China says conflict on Korean Peninsula will have no winner

NEW YORK - The United States has not declared war on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the White House said on Monday, in response to remarks from the DPRK's top diplomat.

"Last weekend, Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn't be around much longer. He declared war on our country," Ri Yong-ho, the DPRK's foreign minister, said in New York.

"The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country," Ri added, referring to Trump's tweet on Saturday.

In response, the White House denied that the US had declared war on Pyongyang. "We have not declared war on North Korea and frankly the suggestion of that is absurd," White House spokeswomen Sarah Sanders said.

"Our goal is still the same. We continue to seek the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," she said.

The DPRK minister also said that the DPRK reserved the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US bombers even if they are not in its air space.

"Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to take countermeasures, including the right to shoot down US strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country," Ri said.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Tuesday that there have been many threats of military activities on the peninsula recently, and hoped that politicians in Washington and Pyongyang will realize that resorting to military means will never be a viable way out.

"We hope they will realize that verbal abuse alone will only increase the risk of conflicts and reduce the room for policy maneuver," he said. "A war on the Korean Peninsula will have no winner."

Lu also said that China disapproved of the escalation of the war of words between the US and the DPRK.

Trump's threats

On Saturday, US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers and F-15C Eagle fighter escorts flew in international airspace over waters east of the DPRK, the Pentagon said.

Trump also talked tough on the DPRK. In his first speech at the UN General Assembly on Sept 19, Trump threatened that the US "will have no choice but to totally destroy" the country unless Pyongyang refrains from its nuclear tests and missile launches.

Two days later, Trump signed a new order to ramp up sanctions on the DPRK.

In response, the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un vowed to retaliate, saying Trump "will face results beyond his expectation".

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in New Delhi on Tuesday that diplomatic efforts to tackle the crisis are continuing, Reuters reported.

Xinhua - China Daily