North Korea’s state media blasts US-South Korea drills

ISTANBUL

North Korea's state media on Friday strongly condemned the recent US-South Korea anti-submarine drills, known as Silent Shark, along with other joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington.

The criticism, issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), claimed that these drills were designed for "deterring" Pyongyang.

The commentary specifically targeted recent joint exercises, including an anti-special operations drill near South Korea's Pyeongtaek and the month-long Silent Shark exercise held in Guam on November 18-21.

“The US reckless military moves that started at the very beginning of this year, gravely threatening the strategic stability in and around the Korean peninsula, are becoming more blatant even in the closing days of the year,” the KCNA said.

The KCNA also highlighted the recent US deployment of F-16 fighter jets to Osan Air Base in South Korea to enhance joint operational capabilities.

It also pointed to the recent establishment of a US forward arming and refueling point on Japan's Yonaguni Island, as well as the upcoming Proliferation Security Initiative exercise set to take place in Japanese waters.

"It is an irrefutable fact that it is aimed at deterring the DPRK (North Korea) and regional countries by force and securing air superiority in contingency," the KCNA said.

KCNA 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."

Separately on Friday, acting US Ambassador to South Korea Kevin Kim said that South Korea and the United States must address the "common challenges" they face on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region, Yonhap News reported.

"First and foremost, addressing the common challenges on the Korean Peninsula, as well as the Indo-Pacific region, first starts with having a shared assessment of the threats that we face," Kim said in a forum hosted by the Korea-US Alliance Foundation.