North Korea on Thursday slammed the US and South Korea for expanding the scope of their upcoming joint military drills in the region.
North Korea’s Warning
In a statement on Thursday, the North said that the “military and political situation” on the Korean peninsula has reached “an extreme red-line” due to the US and South Korea’s “reckless military confrontational manoeuvres and hostile acts.”
Claiming that the US was trying to “demonise” it with “rumours,” North Korea further accused the US of intensifying a “full-scale offensive” by pressuring it through sanctions and military activities.
It warned that Washington was going to “ignite an all-out showdown” with Pyongyang by “continued combined drills whose scale and scope are largely extended.” The statement was referring to the US and South Korea’s upcoming drill, which will be their “largest-ever field mobile live shell firing drill” and will simulate the use of nuclear weapons.
North Korea further slammed the US for pledging to deploy more strategic assets to the South, including the fifth-generation stealth fighters and nuclear carriers, and “talking about the use of nuclear weapons” against the North, a move that it said would turn the peninsula into a “critical war zone.”
OF NOTE: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III stressed that the goal of the U.S.-South Korean alliance is peace — not conflict — following meetings in Seoul, South Korea, today. https://t.co/K3u31Qu0Hl
— U.S. Pacific Fleet (@USPacificFleet) January 31, 2023
The rogue regime warned that it will “take the toughest reaction” to any military moves made by the US, based on the principle of “nuke for nuke and an all-out confrontation for an all-out confrontation!”
It added that Pyongyang has “a clear counteraction strategy capable of coping with any short- and long-term scenarios” created by the US, and assured that it will “strongly control the present and future potential challenges” with the “most overwhelming nuclear force.”
Moreover, the North Korean government is “not interested” in dialogue with the US due to the Western power’s “hostile policy and confrontational line.”
Deepening US-South Korea Relations
The North’s warning came after US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin III met his South Korean counterpart Lee Jong-Sup in Seoul earlier this week and pledged to continue bolstering their alliance’s capabilities to deter and “respond” to an aggressive North Korea.
Accordingly, both defence ministers agreed to “enhance information sharing, joint planning and execution, and alliance consultation mechanisms.”
South Korea's military shares footage of a US-ROK air drill Wednesday involving B-1B strategic bombers and F-22 and F-35B stealth fighters from the US Air Force. Drill also involved South Korean F-35A fighters. pic.twitter.com/NDaRtvG1fe
— William Gallo (@GalloVOA) February 1, 2023
In addition, the allies pledged to “closely cooperate” in deploying US strategic assets in the future, and “expand and bolster the level and scale” of joint military exercises and conduct a large-scale combined joint fires demonstration this year.
North’s Growing Aggression
Last year, North Korea launched a record number of 70 ballistic missiles. Further, there is speculation that it may conduct its seventh nuclear test in the near future.
In December, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un hinted that his administration will continue its string of frequent missile tests in 2023, due to the “multilaterally changing situation.”
In the same month, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called for strengthening his country’s air defences, including high-tech stealth drones, after its military failed to shoot down North Korean drones that successfully escaped South Korean radars.