north korea's ambassador to the uk has issued a chilling warning that his country would be prepared to use nuclear weapons in a rare interview, hyun hak bong claimed the secretive state could launch a deadly warhead 'anytime' speaking to sky news at the north korean embassy in west london, he said: 'we are prepared 'if a sparkle of a fire is made on the korean peninsula, it will lead to a nuclear war 'we don't say empty words we mean what we mean it is not the united states that has a monopoly on nuclear weapons strikes' scroll down for video  hyun hak bong said his countrymen were 'peace loving people', but still prepared to launch a nuclear strike  a north korean vehicle carrying a missile passes by during a mass military parade in pyongyang's kim il sung square the country's ambassador to the uk claims it could launch a nuclear warhead 'anytime' when asked to clarify if north korea had the ability to fire a nuclear missile, mr hak bong confirmed: 'anytime, anytime, yes' he did add that north koreans were a 'peace loving people' and the communist country would only launch a nuclear attack in the event of an american first strike the threat comes against the backdrop of annual us/south korean military exercises which the north views as preparation for a possible invasion the foal eagle and key resolve exercises last several weeks and involve hundreds of thousands of troops america claims they are defensive but pyongyang considers them a provocation in the same interview mr hak bong also launched a vicious attack on defectors from the north he said of those who have managed to escape the regime of dictator kim jong un: 'do you know the difference between human beings and animals? north korea claims the foal eagle and key resolve exercises by the us and south korea, involving hundreds of thousands of troops on land, sea and air, are a provocation and preparation for a possible invasion  the north korean embassy in acton, west london the un is launching yet another investigation into the communist dictatorship's human rights record  'human beings have a conscience and morality if they do not have a conscience and a morality the are like nothing 'they're animals that is why we call the defectors animals they are no better than animals they're human scum' the allegations came after the united nations launched yet another investigation into north korea's human rights record the un is also planning to investigate reports that up to 20,000 north koreans have been sent to qatar to help build the 2022 world cup facilities under inhumane conditions
hyun hak bong north korean london south korea communist american us
hyun hak bong claims secretive state could easily launch warhead  chilling words came in rare interview at north korean embassy in london  people are 'peace loving' and do not want open war with south korea  communist country 'would only go nuclear in event of american strike' comments come as us and south korea hold annual military exercises  north views manoeuvres as provocation and preparation for invasion 