United States Backs Up South Korea after North Korea Says It Hasn't Apologized for Land Mine Blast
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday that the United States would back up South Korea from the North's possible attacks, which could make it impossible for the latter to win.
"We need to make sure that the North Koreans always understand that any provocation with them will be dealt with and that they stand no chance of defeating us and our allies in South Korea," Carter said while he exchanged speech with troops on social media - CNN reported on Wednesday.
"It's probably the single place on the world -- in the world -- where war could erupt at the snap of our fingers," he said.
"Korea is one of these places that is a tinderbox. It's probably the single place in the world where war could erupt at the snap of our fingers," Carter added.
He went on, "We had a little dust-up out there about a week ago," - noting North's declaration of "state of war" with the South in August.
South Korea condemned the land mine blasts that maimed two South Korean soldiers last August 4. Meanwhile, during the marathon talks of the two Koreas last month, Pyongyang expressed "regret" on the incident and vowed to make efforts to avoid such incident from happening again.
However, the North denied that they have apologized to the South for the land mine blasts.
"They are so ignorant of the Korean language they don't even know the meanings and definitions of Korean words," the National Defense Commission in North Korea said in a statement, according to an article posted Wednesday on New York Times.
The agency also stated that if the South continued to misinterpret the agreement with the North, it would likely bring back the tension.
Meanwhile, Jeong Joon Hee, the South's Unification Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that the two Koreas should keep from criticizing and arguing over the agreement's wording details. He added that they should focus more on important matters, such as the family reunion talks slated on September 7.
