North Korea Warns of Second Korean War on Armistice Anniversary

North Korea used the anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting on the peninsula 69 years ago to warn of a “second Korean War,” blaming the US and South Korea for inflaming hostilities.

“The joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, which are being carried out with a thick gunpowder smell, are exacerbating the situation on the Korean Peninsula,” North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement, calling the two a “horde of belligerents wanting the wretchedness of war.”

The US and South Korea held joint military exercises this month that included AH-64E Apache helicopters and F-35A stealth fighter jets. The North Korean statement so far has only been offered on the ministry’s website and not on its official media, indicating it might be for the domestic audience.

North Korea for decades has called joint drills a prelude to invasion and said in the statement the current ones may “spread into the second Korean War.”

The statement coincided with the July 27 signing of the armistice agreement among US-led United Nations forces, North Korea and China that brought a cease-fire to the 1950-1953 Korean War. Even though it ended in a stalemate, North Korea celebrates the day as a “Victory in the Fatherland.”

The US for years has indicated if North Korea wants a formal peace treaty and diplomatic relations, it must wind down its nuclear arms program.

South Korea and the US have warned that North Korea looks set to soon test a nuclear weapon.