North Korea Calls US Arms Assistance Unable To Save South Korea

South Korean military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons//Republic of Korea Armed Forces)

JAKARTA - North Korea on Sunday accused the United States of increasing gun assistance to allies in what it called an attempt to strengthen its hegemonic status, saying the weapons provision was still not enough to "guard" South Korea from its strategic shortfall.

North Korean state media made the allegations after the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency recently announced a proposed sale of weapons to South Korea, which would include the BQM-177A for Aegis-enhanced destroyers and the GQM-163 target drone.

"The US, the world's largest war trader, is increasingly excited, more than ever, in its arms sales scheme to countries that follow (US)," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a comment, stressing that the sale to South Korea is increasingly becoming "continuous," the Korea Times reported on February 3.

KCNA claims the provisions of the weapon to the South reflect the US efforts to destroy the balance of power in the region and strengthen its hegemonic status.

"No gun assistance from the US can save (South Korea) from its strategy-deficient fate. The US will not be able to realize its ambitions because of our fair strength," he explained.

The comments came as North Korea, which long condemned military cooperation between South Korea and the US, called joint military exercises between allies training for invasion while using them as a pretext for provocation.

Last week, Pyongyang pledged to defend "the harshest countermeasures" against the US as long as the country rejects the country's sovereignty and security interests.