From Voice of Russia:  A hypothetical North Korean attack on U.S. military facilities would involve other NATO member countries joining in armed action against the communist state as prescribed by Article Five of the North Atlantic Treaty , NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow told Interfax on Friday.

Vershbow cited the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, which led Washington to invoke Article Five. 

From RIA Novosti:  NATO deputy chief Alexander Vershbow told Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy in an interview that Kim Jong Un’s relative inexperience as leader of North Korea added an element of unpredictability.

“One can never be certain, particularly when they have a new young untested leader,” Vershbow said. . . .

“The North Koreans have been famous for very extravagant rhetoric and belligerent threats, but at the same time the United States and its allies I think have a strong deterrent capability to prevent any military action,” Vershbow said.

“North Korea has gotten the message very clearly from the United States, from South Korea that any military provocation will be met with a decisive response,” he said.

Prior to the exercises, North Korea had threatened the United States with a preemptive nuclear strike amid warnings that it plans to terminate the Korean War Armistice Agreement. It also warned of retaliatory countermeasures if the United States and South Korea went ahead with the drills.  (photo: Chip Somodevilla/AFP/Getty)

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