North Korea threatens Britain with 'miserable end' if it supports US

Britain will face a "miserable end" if it participates in military exercises jointly with the US and South Korea, the North Korean agency KCNA said.

"We are solemnly warning not only the US and its puppet group but also others, like the UK and Australia, who are taking advantage of the current military maneuvers against the north, that they will face a miserable end if they Join in the play with fire from the war moths, "added KCNA, quoted by RT.

State media dismissed South Korea's insistence that the annual exercises are merely defensive, adding that "strategic bomb formations loaded with nuclear bombs are always poised to strike."

However, a publisher of the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun added that these joint military exercises are "the expression of the most explicit hostility against us, and no one can guarantee that the exercises will not evolve into actual combat."

Britain, the closest US partner in Europe, can formally reject Trump's plea for help in a war against North Korea as long as Kim Jong-un does not attack Hawaii or the mainland.

Britain's continued presence in NATO does not automatically oblige it to participate in the US-North Korea conflict, even if it attacks military bases in the Pacific.

But Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that an attack on a NATO member is an act of aggression against the entire military alliance. Consequently, if Kim Jong-un attack the US military bases, the US may ask for assistance from Britain, but it can not force it or other allies to join the military initiatives against North Korea .