North Korea WON’T THINK TWICE about ‘pressing the button’ if US strikes, defector warns

The grave warning comes from a high-profile defector who says officers deployed on the demarcation line are expected “to press the button without any further instructions” at the first hint of an American strike. 

Former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho said thousands of short-range rockets and artillery pieces – many of which are trained on the South Korean capital Seoul – are ready to fire “at any moment”.

Addressing American lawmakers today, he said the US and the South would ultimately win any war against Kim Jong-un’s regime.

But Mr Thae expressed concern for the millions of civilians living in range of Kim’s terrifying arsenal, saying they could become a “human sacrifice” if war breaks out. 

He told the US House Foreign Affairs Committee: “North Korean officers are trained to press the button without any further instructions from the general command if something happens on their side. 

“So if there is any sound of fire or bombs or strikes from Americans, the North Korean artillery and short-range missiles will fire against South Korea.

“I strongly believe that if there is any preventive or surgical strike of whatever, war will be won by America and South Korea, there is no doubt about it, but we have to see the human sacrifice from this military option.”

President Donald Trump has taken a hard-line approach in dealing with the nuclear-armed North and has not shied away from threatening military action, a stark contrast to the policy of his predecessors.

Mr Trump has repeatedly insulted despot Kim and said he would “totally destroy” North Korea if it dare attack the US or its allies.

Following the threat, he tweeted saying his chief diplomat Rex Tillerson was “wasting his time” trying to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis. 

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated further after North Korea tested a suspected hydrogen bomb earlier this month.

And South Korean intelligence agencies have reported a sudden flurry of activity around Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile research facilities – suggesting another test could imminent.

It comes as President Donald Trump is set to visit South Korean leaders in Seoul next week as part of a 12-day, five country Asian tour. 

Mr Thae was based in London as deputy North Korean ambassador until last year when he defected to the South. 

He has been an outspoken critic of the Kim’s regime ever since. 

In his evidence to US lawmakers today, he went on condemn the human rights abuses by Kim’s oppressive regime and likened its crimes to those “committed by the Nazis”.