North Korea slams US-South Korea military drills, threatens to exercise self-defence

SEOUL: North Korea on Friday threatened to exercise its right to self-defence in a statement that slammed the upcoming US-South Korean military drills as a war rehearsal that would be more provocative than last year.

The US and South Korean militaries are to start their annual large-scale drills Monday and have described the scope of this year's training as similar to past years.

The allies have said the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises are meant to strengthen their readiness against North Korean threats and reiterated that they are defensive in nature.

The North Korean warning signals the country could conduct more weapons tests in coming days after its neighbors detected two ballistic missile launches off North Korea's east coast in the past week.

North Korea hasn't commented on the launches, but outside experts assess they were likely meant to protest the US-South Korean drills or upgrade weapons systems.

In a statement carried by state media Friday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry called the US-South Korean training “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that is triggering a different level of instability in the region.

“It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent,” the statement said. North Korea "will more clearly express its stance on the enemies to cope with any threats and challenges through the responsible and decisive exercise of the right to legitimate self-defence.”

North Korea also said the drills would be of a “more serious provocative nature and dangerousness than last year" and involve all the military assets and war-fighting modes of the US and South Korea, a claim that those countries haven't said.

Analysts say North Korea has often used its adversaries' military drills as a pretext to ramp up weapons testing activities to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals and promote public support of leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim has ignored the US and South Korea's offers to resume diplomacy and focused on taking steps to bolster his nuclear arsenal since his summitry with US President Donald Trump broke down in 2019.

Experts say Kim will likely eventually aim to use his advancing nuclear program to win greater US concessions such as extensive sanctions relief.

Kim has increased his diplomatic engagement with Russia in recent years. North Korea has been supplying troops and ammunition to Russia to support its war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance. Kim has also recently pushed to deepen ties with China, North Korea's biggest trading partner.