North Korea on Friday blasted the recent joint US-South Korea anti-submarine drills called Silent Shark, as well as other joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington, saying such drills were aimed at deterring Pyongyang.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency issued the criticism in a commentary, taking aim at recent joint drills between Washington and Seoul, including an anti-special operation drill near South Korea's Pyeongtaek and the monthlong Silent Shark exercise in Guam.
The KCNA also cited the recent US forward deployment of F-16 fighter jets to Osan Air Base in South Korea to bolster joint operational capability, as well as the recent installation of a US forward arming and refueling point on Japan's Yonaguni Island and the upcoming Proliferation Security Initiative drill in Japanese waters.
"It is an irrefutable fact that it is aimed at deterring the DPRK and regional countries by force and securing air superiority in contingency," the KCNA said. DPRK stands for the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea called them "habitual and reckless" military moves by the US, claiming that it clearly indicates "where the origin of the instability of the regional situation is" and who is to be blamed for "the unilateral changes to status quo."
The pretext of "regular drills" can never cover up their aggressive and provocative nature, the KCNA said, calling the US "an evil factor fostering the possibility of armed conflict."
"The US is the chieftain threatening the peace and stability and destroying the strategic security balance. This fact has already been settled as an absolute value in the perception of the independent sovereign states in the region," the KCNA said.
North Korea will be prepared to counter "the confrontation-oriented moves of the enemy states," the KCNA said, adding that "all threats encroaching upon our sphere of security will become direct targets of the DPRK and be managed in a necessary way."
It also warned that North Korea will further devote itself to defending its national sovereignty and interests and protecting the regional peace and stability through the exercise of its essential rights, in response to the US' renewed demonstrations of military strength.
Friday's KCNA commentary appeared to highlight North Korea's shared interests with China, which has accused the US of attempting unilateral changes to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the broader region, blaming recent US military actions. (Yonhap)
