DPRK slams S. Korea, US for holding provocative military drills

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Jun 2023 19:56

Since last month, US and South Korean armed forces held five rounds of exercises on May 25 and June 2, 7, 12 and 15.

US and South Korean flags wave before a joint river-crossing drill between the allied nations in Yeoju, South Korea, on Oct. 19. (AP)

In reaction to the joint military drills held by US and South Korean forces in the Seungjin Fire Training Field in the South Korean city of Pocheon, located only 30 kilometers from the military demarcation line, the DPRK issued a "strong warning" on Thursday, calling the drills "provocative and irresponsible" and warning that these actions will lead to an escalation in the region.

"The US forces in South Korea and the puppet army are staging ‘combined joint firepower annihilation drill’ targeting the DPRK [North Korea] by massively mobilizing various types of offensive weapons and equipment … Our response to this is inevitable. Our army strongly denounces the provocative and irresponsible moves of the puppet military authorities escalating the military tension in the region despite its repeated warnings, and warns them solemnly," the spokesman was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The spokesman added that the US and South Korean armed forces had held five rounds of exercises on May 25 and June 2, 7, 12, and 15.

In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the US-South Korean alliance, the two have held their largest-ever joint live-fire drills in five stages since the end of May. The drills also come on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the South Korean armed forces.

Over 2,500 South Korean and US military personnel and more than 610 units of military equipment took part in the drills.

The exercises, as stated by both parties, are intended at working out possible scenarios for responding to DPRK's "provocations."

Earlier today, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the DPRK had fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan from the Sunan region.

Japan also confirmed the firing of the missile saying the DPRK "launched a possible ballistic missile" as it called on vessels to take caution and not approach any unidentified objects in the sea.

Later, the Japanese parliamentary vice-minister of defense, Kimi Onoda, claimed that two ballistic missiles fell inside Japan's exclusive economic zone which extends 200 nautical miles past the Japanese coast.