South Korea's ruling party leader warns 'nuclear bombs can fall over our heads at any time'

ANKARA

South Korean ruling party leader Chung Jin-suk on Wednesday warned that North Korea could move further against Seoul and "nuclear bombs can fall over our heads at any time."

Chung also called for scrapping military agreements with Pyongyang, including the 1991 and 2018 inter-Korean military agreements and Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, if North Korea carried out its 7th nuclear test, Yonhap News Agency reported.

“(North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un unveiled the North's tactical nuclear operation unit on Oct. 10, the anniversary of the Workers' Party, saying that its targets are the airports and ports of the Republic of Korea,” said Chung in his Facebook post.

The ruling People Power Party leader’s statement came after President Yoon Suk-yeol’s warning on Tuesday that North Korea is posing a threat to the world by steadily developing and advancing its nuclear weapons.

On Monday, North Korea said the recent missile tests were part of its two-week-long "tactical nuclear" drills to simulate hitting South Korea with nuclear weapons.

Later, the South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung criticized the joint military drills with the US and Japan and called it a move to legitimize Japan's Self-Defense Forces as a regular military.

“We cannot imagine the day when the Japanese military invades the Korean Peninsula and the Rising Sun Flag again hangs over the peninsula but it could come true,” the agency quoted Lee as saying. He warned such a military alliance could push the region to a flashpoint.

However, President Yoon dismissed the opposition leader’s concerns and said: “What concern can be justified before the threat of nuclear weapons? That's what I think.”

Tensions on the peninsula rose in 2020 when North Korea attacked and blew up the inter-Korean liaison office along the border. Seoul has threatened a strong response if Pyongyang "further worsens the situation."