North Korea has criticized a joint military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the United States this month, saying such drills show the three countries’ relationship has developed into an “Asian version of NATO,” state media reported on Sunday.
On Thursday, the three countries began large-scale joint military exercises involving naval destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at strengthening defenses against missiles, submarines and air attacks.
The exercise was devised at a trilateral summit in Camp David last year to strengthen military cooperation amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula stemming from North Korea’s weapons tests.
“Pyongyang will not ignore…”
Pyongyang will not ignore the strengthening of the military bloc led by the US and its allies and will protect regional peace with an aggressive and overwhelming response, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to the KCNA news agency.
The ministry also said Washington was continuing its efforts to bring South Korea and Japan closer to NATO, adding that South Korea’s attempts to supply arms to Ukraine was one example of those efforts.
South Korea said it would consider supplying Ukraine with arms directly, in protest against the recent mutual defense pact signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
South Korea and the United States have accused the North of supplying Russia with weapons used in the war in Ukraine.
Both Russia and North Korea deny any such shipments.
North Korea has long denounced joint exercises between the United States and South Korea as a rehearsal for an invasion and evidence of hostile policies by Washington and Seoul.
