MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said that it could attack Australia with nuclear weapons if Canberra continues "blindly toeing the US line," saying that Bishop should be more careful with making statements about Pyongyang and that she'd "better think twice about the consequences."
"These [North Korea’s statements] present a grave threat to its neighbors and if left unchecked, to the broader region including Australia … The North Korean government should invest in the welfare of its long-suffering citizens, rather than weapons of mass destruction," Bishop said, as quoted by the Australian newspaper.
Pyongyang’s threats came in response to Bishop’s earlier statements made on Tuesday, when she said that North Korean nuclear weapons and missile program posed a threat to the country's security as the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile able to hit the US territory with a nuclear payload could also allow North Korea to hit the Australian territory.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen over the recent month in the wake of Pyongyang's nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches conducted in violation of the UN Security Council's resolutions. North Korea reportedly carried out the most recent missile launch on April 16, however it was unsuccessful according to South Korea's defense officials.
In response to the tensions, the United States and Japan have launched joint naval military exercises in the Pacific Ocean with the participation of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier earlier in the day, after Washington has sent its strike group, including two destroyers and a cruiser, to the Korean Peninsula.
On April 14, media reported that US President Donald Trump might order a strike against North Korea if Pyongyang decided to carry out another nuclear weapon test. The North Korean general staff responded with threats of a strike against US military bases in Japan and South Korea, as well as the presidential residence in Seoul in the case of US aggression.
