MOSCOW (Sputnik) — North Korean threats of carrying out preventive nuclear attacks in light of the US-South Korean military exercises are unacceptable, and give basis for use of military force against Pyongyang, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
On Sunday, South Korea and the United States began their largest-ever joint exercises amid increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula. On Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the military to prepare to use its nuclear weapons at any moment in light of the exercise, according to the country’s state media reports.
"In particular, we consider public statements with threats of carrying out some ‘preventive nuclear attacks’ against one’s opponents completely unacceptable. Pyongyang must understand that North Korea completely sets itself against the international community, provides the international legal basis for the use of military force against it," the statement read.