DPRK condemns drills by US, Japan, S. Korea as 'Asian NATO'
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The leader of the DPRK labeled the recent joint military exercises as an "Asian NATO" and issued a warning about the possible consequences.
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This photo provided Thursday, June 20, 2024, by the DPRK government shows the official welcome ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Wednesday, June 19. (AP)
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) denounced on Sunday the joint military drills by South Korea, Japan, and the United States, calling them an "Asian NATO" and warning of "fatal consequences".
It comes after the allies concluded a three-day exercise called "Freedom Edge," which involved ballistic missile and air defense drills, anti-submarine warfare, and defensive cyber training.
The three-day military training, codenamed Freedom Edge, "will focus on ballistic missile defense, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, maritime interdiction, and defensive cyber training," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The US Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Japan's guided-missile destroyer JS Atago, and South Korea's KF-16 fighter jet are a few of the assets that will take part in the drills.
US, South Korea, Japan annual drills
At a trilateral summit last year, the leaders of the US, South Korea, and Japan agreed to conduct annual drills in response to the DPRK's nuclear threats and China's growing regional influence.
"We strongly denounce... provocative military muscle-flexing against the DPRK," Pyongyang's foreign ministry said in a statement, carried by the state-run KCNA news agency Sunday, referring to the DPRK's official name.
It warned of "fatal consequences", saying, "the US-Japan-ROK relations have taken on the full-fledged appearance of an Asian-version NATO," and "The DPRK will never overlook the moves of the US and its followers to strengthen the military bloc."
The latest joint drills featured Washington's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, Tokyo's guided-missile destroyer JS Atago, and Seoul's KF-16 fighter jet.
Pyongyang has consistently condemned similar combined exercises as rehearsals for an invasion. Meanwhile, the two Koreas have recently engaged in a tit-for-tat balloon campaign. It sent trash-filled balloons southwards in retaliation to similar balloons sent northwards from the South carrying pro-Seoul propaganda.
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