North Korea Slams South Korea-US Military Drills as ‘Unprecedented’ War Rehearsal

North Korea on Thursday slammed the United States and South Korea’s latest military drills as an “unprecedented” war rehearsal and promised to take “offensive” military steps against them, Yonhap reported.

Seoul and Washington’s “frantic” military drills have turned the Korean Peninsula into a “powder keg” that can explode at any moment, wrote international security affairs critic Choe Ju-hyon, in a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

“Our war deterrence will continue to show responsibility and confidence in its critical mission with offensive actions,” Yonhap quoted Choe.

This comment comes as the US and South Korean militaries have been expanding their combined military drills in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

On Wednesday,  the United States flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Korean Peninsula again amid concerns that North Korea might conduct a nuclear test.

In a stinging criticism, Choe called the US a “cancer to the world peace” for recently staging trilateral naval exercises with its two Asian allies of South Korea and Japan.

Earlier this week, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said that the long-range bombers took part in joint aerial drills with U.S. and South Korean fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula.

It said it was the first deployment of U.S. B-52 bombers to the peninsula in a month.

The drills “show the strong resolve of the Korea-US alliance and its perfect readiness to respond to any provocation by North Korea swiftly and overwhelmingly,” Lt. Gen. Park Ha Sik, commander of the South Korean air force operation command, said in a statement.

Notably, the US sent the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier for joint naval training with South Korea last week and US-South Korea-Japan anti-submarine drills this week.

North Korea sees such drills as provocations.

(With agency inputs)

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