Seoul, Sep 7 (IANS) The North Korean defence minister strongly denounced the Freedom Edge exercise involving South Korea, the United States and Japan currently underway, vowing to take “reflective countermeasures,” Pyongyang’s official media outlet reported on Monday.
North Korean Defence Minister Kim Song-gi released the statement through the Korean Central News Agency, noting the exercise poses a security threat that pushes the “instability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond the region to the limit.”
“If the US and its allies attempt to provoke a new military confrontation with the DPRK, the latter will take strong and reflective countermeasures from the standpoint of power,” Kim added, using North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The statement marked the first of its kind issued by Kim since he was appointed Pyongyang’s defence minister on August 29, replacing No Kwang-chol.
Kim also took issue with Washington’s Orient Shield exercise that will kick off on Tuesday involving Japan and Australia, as well as the planned deployment of the US Army’s multidomain mobile task force to South Korea later this year.
“The US-led war demonstrations are being staged one after another without any gap in time and space under the situation that the US-Japan-ROK tripartite military cooperation system is being transformed into a dangerous offensive entity accompanied by nuclear elements,” the released statement said. ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea’s official name.
“If necessary, we will express our will and ability to respond to the enemy’s moves with more powerful and resolute action practice,” Kim warned.
South Korea, the US and Japan began the five-day joint military exercise on the day, proceeding on schedule even as key Seoul-Washington drills were recently scaled back upon US President Donald Trump’s order.
–IANS
ksk/uk
