The North Korean government announced that a nuclear war may ensue if the U.S. and the South Korean joint-military exercises push through.

North Korea, through Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ri Tong Il said that they are ready for both a dialogue and a war. The spokesman upon meeting with Clinton, reiterated that the peace treaty should replace the armistice.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her visit at the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas say that the U.S. will slap a new sanction on the North amidst its nuclear ambitions and punish them on the sinking of South Korean warship Cheonan. The European Union also in a statement expressed that they are considering a new sanction on North Korea.

Furthermore, Clinton said that they are ready and willing to negotiate but the North Korea’s threat only heightens the tension. Clinton continues by indicating that the U.S. stands in firm support of the defense of South Korea.

US and South Korea will conduct a joint military exercise after an alleged sinking of a South Korean ship by the North Korean. The tension started when the Cheonan sinked last March. The Washington and Seoul blamed it on Pyongyang.

However, Pyongyang sees the joint military exercise as a rehearsal for an attack on North Korea. The Defense Chief of the allied force announced that the exercise is a clear message to North Korea to stop its aggressive behavior.

The two Koreas have gone to war before during the 1950-53 Korean War. The war was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea supported by the United Nations and the Democratic Republic of Korea supported by the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union.

The war began on June 25, 1950, and ended by signing an armistice on July 27, 1953, which resulted in dividing this peninsula into two. The United States occupied the South Korea, whereas the Soviet Union occupied the North Korea.