U.S. troops based at Camp Casey in the Republic of Korea (ROK), woke up Thursday night to an emergency air raid siren, fearing it could be an attack from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Photo: CGTN

According to published reports, an Army spokesman blamed "human error" at Camp Casey, the closest U.S. base to the border with the DPRK. Officials said taps were supposed to be played.

The apparent mistake comes as the DPRK warned of a "Christmas gift" to the U.S. in retaliation for President Donald Trump refusing to lift nuclear sanctions placed on the country.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula are rising. Earlier this month, DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Ri Thae Song hinted Pyongyang could resume long-range missile tests.

The DPRK has conducted repeated tests of short-range missiles this year and this month carried out what appeared to be engine tests at a rocket-testing facility U.S. officials said Kim promised Trump he would close.

Pyongyang said the tests were aimed at "restraining and overpowering the nuclear threat of the U.S."

The DPRK last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017 when it fired a Hwasong-15, the largest missile it has ever tested. Pyongyang said the missile was capable of reaching all of the United States.

Trump and Kim have met three times since 2018, but there has been no substantive progress. The DPRK has demanded an end to international sanctions while the United States says Pyongyang must first commit to giving up its nuclear weapons.

At their unprecedented first summit in Singapore in 2018, the two sides agreed to work together to build a "lasting and stable peace regime" to replace the 1950-53 Korean War armistice, while the DPRK committed "to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Recent days have seen a flurry of international diplomacy aimed at avoiding a return to the heated confrontation seen two years ago that raised fears of war.

China and Russia, proposed last week that the UN Security Council lift some sanctions to break the current deadlock.

A U.S. State Department official responded by saying it was not the time to consider doing this when the DPRK was "threatening to conduct an escalated provocation, refusing to meet to discuss denuclearization, and continuing to maintain and advance its prohibited weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs."