North Korea has issued a fresh threat to the West. He said that nuclear war is imminent. It is no longer a question of “if” but “when.”

“Now, the question is not if a nuclear war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula, but who and when it starts,”  said North Korean Defense Minister General Kang Sun-Nam said in a statement made public on Tuesday and presented at the XI Moscow International Security Conference. In this year alone, the United States sent “massive strategic arms” to the region, including a nuclear-capable submarine, an aircraft carrier group, and a nuclear-capable bomber, he added.

Kang blamed Washington’s desire for a regime change in Pyongyang for ratcheting up tensions. He also accused the U.S. of increasing its military presence in the region by deploying nuclear-capable aircraft and a submarine to the area, according to a report by Global Villiage Space. 

“We are well aware of the fact that the aggressive intention of the U.S. to strip us of our nuclear weapons and destroy our system through brute force cannot be changed even in the slightest,” he said.

In late June, a US B-52 strategic bomber took part in the joint drills with South Korea. Just two weeks later, America also deployed its Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, the USS Kentucky, to South Korea. Armed with 20 Trident II ballistic missiles, the undersea vessel carries a total of 80 nuclear warheads.

“The US, which has been waging a hostile state policy against [North] Korea … for 80 years, blatantly interferes with the independent development and security interests of the North and pushes the situation in North-Eastern Asia to the brink of a nuclear war,” Kang said. –Global Villiage Space

The general’s warning came just days after North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un ordered increased preparations for war. Kim demanded increasing the production of weapons and called for top officers to carry out drills with the country’s latest weaponry to ensure that troops were ready for a potential conflict.