North Koreans call for US to be ‘swept away’ in mass rally

Thousands of anti-US demonstrators have held a mass rally in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, to show solidarity with their leader’s call to prepare for strategic rocket strikes in the event of any US provocation.

Soldiers and students demonstrated at Kim Il Sung Square on Friday, chanting “Death to the US imperialists” and “Sweep away the US aggressors.”

The demonstration came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered rocket units to be on standby at an overnight emergency meeting with the country’s top army commanders.

The North Korean leader said that the forces should “mercilessly strike the US mainland…, military bases in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea.”

Kim’s order came after the United States on Thursday flew two nuclear-capable B2 stealth bombers over South Korea to conduct “deterrence” mission.

The two bombers flew out of Whiteman Air Force base in Missouri, dropped dummy ordnance on targets in South Korea, and completed the 13000-mile round trip in a “single continuous mission,” according to a press release by the US military.

Kim argued that the stealth bomber flights went beyond a simple demonstration of force and amounted to a US “ultimatum that they will ignite a nuclear war at any cost.”

North Korea had already put its strategic units at combat-ready status on Tuesday for possible strikes against the US.

On Monday, the US and South Korea signed a military pact, allowing the allies to respond even to any purported low-level provocations from North Korea.

On March 21, South Korean and US forces wrapped up an annual war game codenamed ‘Key Resolve’ amid high military tension with North Korea, announcing that they would continue to maintain high alert in the wake of fresh threats of attack from Pyongyang.

North Korea, however, condemned the maneuvers as a launch pad for a “nuclear war.”