Pyongyang, May 20 (KCNA) -- The United States, intoxicated by its ambition for world hegemony, is fueling an arms race and creating a serious threat to world peace and stability.
The US, which had unilaterally withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between Russia and the US in 2019, announced this year that it will deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.
In fact, the US recently deployed an intermediate-range missile system in the northern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines for the first time since its withdrawal from the INF.
Intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles, which can deceive radar detection systems and strike strategic targets, are virtually difficult to track, making the possibility of a surprise preemptive strike very high.
Military experts point out that Chinese military facilities deployed along the South China Sea, the southern part of the Chinese mainland, and the Taiwan Strait fall within their strike range, expressing concern that the deployment of such missiles will trigger a new stage of the arms race with unpredictable consequences.
The continuous expansion of aggressive military alliances and the conducting of volatile war exercises are also becoming a source of the arms race.
This year, too, the US expanded the fence of NATO and is holding NATO military exercises on the largest scale since the Cold War near the Russian border, honing combined action methods targeting Russia.
The US, which had generated "Quad" (US, Japan, Australia, India) and "AUKUS" (US, UK, Australia) in the Asia-Pacific region, formed another bloc called "Squad" (US, Australia, Japan, Philippines) early this year.
It is a well-known fact that all of these are NATO-like military blocs operating under the command of the US, bringing a new danger of war to the Asia-Pacific region.
Such actions by the US are the product of the reactionary foreign policy of the ruling US forces, which seek to seize world hegemony through unilateral military superiority and arms buildup.
Historically, the US reactionary ruling class has made the realization of world domination the overall goal of its foreign policy and has spent enormous funds on it.
As previously reported, the US military budget for the 2024 fiscal year alone is greater than the combined military spending of the next nine countries and accounts for about 40% of the world's total military spending. The military budget for the 2025 fiscal year increased by $9 billion compared to the 2024 fiscal year, breaking the previous record once again.
The US is squandering enormous funds on strengthening its nuclear strike capability, including the development and production of the Columbia-class strategic nuclear submarine, the B-21 Raider strategic bomber, and the new generation ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile.
In particular, the plan to modernize the B61-12 tactical nuclear bomb and deploy it in Europe by 2026, as well as the deployment of intermediate-range missiles to the Asia-Pacific region, is extremely irritating Russia and China.
In response to the US's aggressive arms buildup maneuvers and the expansion of its military alliances, the countries in the region, including Russia and China, are taking corresponding military measures.
The Chinese government denounced the US for inciting military confrontation in the Asia-Pacific region and stated that it would resolutely respond to the US's missile deployment scheme, which threatens the safety of regional countries and undermines regional peace and stability.
The Russian government issued a statement emphasizing that in response to the US beginning to introduce intermediate-range and shorter-range missile systems into Europe and the Asia-Pacific region under the pretext of exercises with its allies, it would also complete and begin production of similar missile systems.
All facts clearly show that the US, which is fueling a dangerous arms race and is frantic about aggressive war exercises, is the main culprit that threatens and destroys world peace and security.
Source: kcna.kp (2024.05.20.) -English translation prmarily by Gemini