US to Sell 36 Additional Apache 'Tank Killers'
North Korea Calls It a "Provocative Act Increasing Security Instability"
As the United States decided to sell additional Apache attack helicopters (AH-64E), known as "tank killers," to South Korea, North Korea reacted angrily. It claimed that the introduction of the Apache, considered the most advanced attack helicopter currently available, to South Korea was a "provocative act."
On the 23rd, North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement through its External Information Department chief, saying, "Amid the ongoing large-scale joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, Ulchi Freedom Shield, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 36 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and parts to South Korea," and argued, "The U.S. announcement of selling offensive weapons to South Korea is nothing but a provocative act that deliberately increases security instability in the region."
North Korea stated, "The U.S. military claimed that this sale would enhance South Korea's military capabilities but paradoxically insisted it would not change the fundamental military balance in the region," and added, "We strongly oppose and reject the U.S. and its followers' military buildup provocations and sternly warn of the consequences that will arise from them." It further said, "The U.S. provision of lethal weapons intensifies military confrontation and contradictions in the region, destroys the military balance, and is a key factor in provoking and expanding the risk of new conflicts," blaming the U.S. for increasing military tensions.
North Korea also stated, "The more the U.S. is obsessed with providing war equipment and lethal weapons to its allies in the region, the more our strategic deterrence will be strengthened twofold," and threatened, "We will continuously carry out essential self-defensive military activities to control and manage the military imbalance and instability that may result from the increasingly reckless military provocations and delivery of lethal weapons by hostile forces."
Meanwhile, the Apache, capable of day and night, all-weather operations, is regarded as the most advanced attack helicopter currently available. The South Korean Army has been operating 36 Apache helicopters imported from the U.S. since January 2017. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency under the U.S. Department of Defense announced that the State Department approved the sale of Apache attack helicopters and related equipment to South Korea worth $3.5 billion (approximately 4.6655 trillion KRW) through Foreign Military Sales.
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