[ad_1]
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea yesterday condemned joint military exercises between South Korea, Japan and the United States, calling them “Asian version of NATO” and warning of “fatal consequences”.
The three allies on Saturday completed three days of “Freedom’s Edge” military exercises involving ballistic missiles, air defense, submarine warfare and cyber defense.
At a trilateral summit last year, the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Japan agreed to hold the annual exercises as a show of solidarity to counter threats from the nuclear-armed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and China’s growing influence in the region.
“We strongly condemn (…) the military provocation against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (ACNC).
He added that “relations between the United States, Japan and South Korea are already taking on the look of an Asian version of NATO,” warning that this would have “fatal consequences.”
Firepower
The North American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, the Japanese guided-missile destroyer Atago and South Korean KF-16 fighter jets took part in the exercise, which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for an invasion.
South Korea has rejected Pyongyang’s accusations, stressing that the latest drills are a continuation of regular joint exercises among the three allies.
“It is absurd for North Korea, the main source of tension on the Korean Peninsula, to criticize the ‘Freedom’s Edge’ exercise as ‘Asian NATO,'” South Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
[ad_2]
Source link
