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The comments came after Washington, Seoul and Tokyo began joint military exercises on Thursday.
North Korea North Korea has criticized joint military exercises by the United States, South Korea and Japan, saying such drills show that relations between the three countries have developed into an “Asian version of NATO,” according to state media.
“We strongly condemn … the provocative military show of force against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday via state news agency KCNA.
The article stated that “US-Japan-South Korea relations have taken on the appearance of an Asian version of NATO” and warned that this would have “fatal consequences.”
“North Korea will never ignore the moves by the United States and its followers to strengthen their military bloc.”
On Thursday, the United States, Japan and South Korea began a massive joint Military exercises Dubbed Freedom’s Edge, the exercise involves Navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and is designed to bolster defenses against missile, submarine and air attacks.
The exercise was proposed at a trilateral summit held at Camp David in the United States last year with the aim of strengthening military cooperation amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to North Korean weapons tests.
North Korea has long condemned joint U.S.-South Korean drills as a rehearsal for invasion and evidence of hostile policies by Washington and Seoul.
South Korea on Sunday denied North Korea’s accusations and said the latest drills were a continuation of regular defense exercises the three allies have held for years.
“It is absurd that North Korea, the main source of tension on the Korean peninsula, criticized the Freedom’s Edge exercise and called it ‘Asian NATO,'” South Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Seoul also said it would review the possibility of directly supplying weapons to Ukraine in protest against recent mutual Defense Agreement North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed.
South Korea and the United States have also accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.
Both Russia and North Korea deny any such deals take place.
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