At a meeting at the UN in New York, a senior North Korean diplomat has said relations between North and South Korea are “totally bankrupt”, adding “a spark of fire could set off a thermonuclear war”.

His was the first public address to the UN since Kim Jong Un took power in North Korea, after the death of his father last December. Since that time relations between North and South have been tense. Earlier this year the US and South Korea conducted naval exercises off the coast of South Korea, a move seen as highly provocative by Pyongyang.

Pak Kil-yon, Pyongyang’s vice-foreign minster, was responding to the UN Security Council’s condemnation of North Korea’s failed ballistic missile launch in March, saying, that the excerise was a “legitimate and peaceful”, attempt to launch a satellite into space.

Pak, further attacked the US, saying, “Today, due to the continued US hostile policy towards the DPRK, the vicious cycle of confrontation and aggravation of tensions is an ongoing phenomenon on the Korean Peninsula, which has become the world’s most dangerous hot spot and where a spark of fire could set off a thermonuclear war,”

Reports from South Korea suggest the North is increasing military operations across the border, whilst the South is responding by sending more submarines to sea and is preparing for more large scale military operations.

Via The Telegraph