N-Korea warns of strong response to US-South Korea military drills

N-Korea warns US-South Korea military: North Korea on Friday vowed an “unprecedented” forceful response to impending joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, calling them a war preparation.

The warning came ahead of a tabletop exercise the two countries will hold next week in Washington when they would discuss what to do if Pyongyang uses nuclear weapons.

Joint military exercises between the US and South Korea have long been denounced by North Korea as invasion drills.

According to a spokeswoman for the North Korean foreign ministry, it views the exercises scheduled for this year “with fair apprehension and reason…as preparations for an aggressive war.”

The statement said that if Washington and Korea move on with the drills, “they will face unprecedentedly persistent and severe counteractions.”

South Korea has increased military exercises with the United States, which had been toned reduced during the COVID period, under its hawkish President Yoon Suk Yeol.

They were also put on hold during his predecessor’s disastrous diplomatic efforts with Pyongyang.

South Korea and the US to Conduct Joint Nuclear Response Drill amidst North Korea’s Increasing Nuclear Threats

Yoon’s administration is trying to reassure the South Korean public, which is growing increasingly uneasy, of Washington’s determination to dissuade Pyongyang, which declared itself a “irreversible” nuclear state and carried out a record number of weapons tests last year.

In case of a nuclear assault by Pyongyang, the drill the next week will concentrate on “joint planning, joint management, and combined response with Washington’s nuclear assets,” a South Korean defence ministry official told AFP on Friday.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Pyongyang’s forceful remark underscores the importance of this practise.

According to Yang, the drill will be a key indicator of how much the American nuclear arsenal will be used to deter North Korea.

Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, recently called for an “exponential” expansion of his nation’s nuclear arsenal, and Pyongyang has repeatedly stated that it is not interested in further negotiations.