North Korea Warns US against Intercepting Missiles during Tests

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Reuters file photo
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Reuters file photo
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North Korea Warns US against Intercepting Missiles during Tests

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Reuters file photo
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Reuters file photo

North Korea warned Tuesday that it would be a "clear declaration of war" if its missiles were shot down during their test launches over the Pacific Ocean.

The United States and South Korea have ramped up defense cooperation, including joint drills, in the face of growing threats from nuclear-armed Pyongyang, which has conducted a wave of banned weapons tests in recent months, AFP said.

North Korea has said its nuclear weapons and missile programs are for self-defenses, and has bristled over US-South Korea military exercises, describing them as rehearsals for an invasion.

"It will be regarded as a clear declaration of war against the DPRK, in case such military response as interception takes place against our tests of strategic weapons," Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister, said in a statement, using North Korea's official name.

"The Pacific Ocean does not belong to the dominium of the US or Japan."

North Korea is "always on standby to take appropriate, quick and overwhelming action at any time", added her statement, published by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

This month, the US and South Korean militaries will hold their largest joint drills in five years.

Ahead of those exercises, named Freedom Shield and scheduled for at least 10 days starting March 13, the allies held air drills this week featuring a nuclear-capable US B-52 heavy bomber.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, North Korea's foreign ministry accused the United States of "intentionally" ramping up tensions.

"The recent joint air drill... clearly shows that the US scheme to use nuclear weapons against the DPRK is being carried forward at the level of an actual war," it said in a statement published by KCNA.

"We express deep regret over the irresponsible and worrying muscle-flexing of the US and South Korea."

- 'Irreversible' nuclear power -

Last year, Pyongyang declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear power and fired a record-breaking number of missiles.

Kim Jong Un recently called for an "exponential" increase in weapons production, including tactical nukes.

North Korea has framed its missile tests and military drills as justified countermeasures following US-South Korea drills.

Last week, it called on the United Nations to urge a halt to these exercises, and reiterated that its nuclear weapons ensured the balance of power in the region.

South Korea is eager to reassure its increasingly nervous public about the US commitment to so-called extended deterrence, where US military assets, including nuclear weapons, serve to prevent attacks on allies.

Last month, a tabletop US-South Korea exercise at the Pentagon focused on responses to a nuclear attack by North Korea.

Pyongyang responded to that exercise by firing cruise missiles, and claimed that ramped-up US-South Korea drills "can be regarded as a declaration of war".



Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
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Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP

A UK parliamentary committee on Thursday blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts to kill or kidnap British-based individuals since 2022, saying the threat from Iran had "significantly increased".

London's response has been too focused on "crisis management", said parliament's intelligence and security committee, with concerns over Iran's nuclear program dominating their attention too much.

Tehran swiftly issued a "categorical rejection of the unfounded, politically motivated and hostile allegations".

The committee's claims were "baseless, irresponsible, and reflective of a broader pattern of distortion intended to malign Iran's legitimate regional and national interests", said its London embassy, AFP reported.

The report comes after growing alarm in Britain at alleged Iranian targeting of dissidents, media organizations and journalists in the UK, including accusations of physical attacks.

Iran in March became the first country to be placed on an enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which aims to boost Britain's national security against covert foreign influences.

It requires all persons working inside the country for Iran, its intelligence services or the Revolutionary Guard to register on a new list or face jail.

"Iran poses a wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat to the UK, UK nationals, and UK interests," Kevan Jones, chairman of the watchdog committee, said in the report's conclusions.

"Iran has a high appetite for risk when conducting offensive activity and its intelligence services are ferociously well-resourced with significant areas of asymmetric strength."

Jones said it bolstered this through proxy groups, "including criminal networks, militant and terrorist organisations, and private cyber actors" to allow for deniability.

His committee's report said that while Iran's UK activity "appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China", it "should not be underestimated".

The physical threat posed had "significantly increased" in pace and volume, and was "focused acutely on dissidents and other opponents of the regime" as well as Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK, it said.

"The Iranian Intelligence Services have shown that they are willing and able -- often through third-party agents -- to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK," the report said.

"There have been at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap against British nationals or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022."

Similarly, security minister Dan Jarvis said in March Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service had tallied 20 Iran-backed plots "presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents".

The watchdog committee took evidence for two years from August 2021 for its report, a period which saw Tehran implicated in a plot to kill two London-based Iran International television anchors.

In March last year one of the Persian-language outlet's journalists was stabbed outside his London home.

Two Romanian men have been charged in relation to the attack and face extradition to the UK to stand trial.

The counter-terrorism unit of London's Metropolitan Police led the investigation. Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK has said that the Tehran authorities "deny any link" to the incident.