South Korea-US security exercise in Washington 'nuclear blackmail': North Korea
North Korea has condemned South Korea and the United States for holding simulation drills in Washington aimed at boosting nuclear weapons cooperation, decrying the move as "nuclear threats and blackmail.”
Seoul and Washington held their first tabletop simulation of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) on Thursday and Friday (local time).
The key dialogue body aims to coordinate the allies’ nuclear deterrence and to bolster nuclear deterrence and operational readiness on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea’s foreign ministry, in response, issued a statement on Sunday titled “We will continue to take practical measures to cope with the long-term nuclear confrontation with the US,” according to the Korean Central News Agency.
In the statement, it expressed serious concern and bitterly denounced the drills, claiming they are disturbing regional strategic stability and increasing the possibility of a nuclear clash, Yonhap news agency reported quoting Korean Central News Agency.
“The US nuclear threat and blackmail will be thoroughly deterred by the DPRK’s more perfect and developed nuclear forces for self-defense,” the statement in KCNA said. DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The statement also objected that Seoul and Washington had also held “nuclear war drills” in succession, by mentioning other exercises, such as Iron Mace 2 and Ulchi Freedom Shield.
“The DPRK will strictly control and manage the security situation of the Korean peninsula, which is getting ever more intense due to the US and its followers’ nuclear war hysteria, and continue to take practical measures to cope with the long-term nuclear confrontation with the US,” the statement added.
Back in April 2023, US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed on the periodic deployment of American nuclear assets to the Korean Peninsula. They also agreed to establish the NCG and to expand military exercises.
The NCG was launched by South Korea and the United States in July 2023.
North Korea strongly condemned the agreement to deploy US nuclear assets to South Korea. Pyongyang vowed to respond to the threat, proportionally.
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