As calls grow for a U.S.-centered Asian NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to counter military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, North Korea’s condemnation of this as an aggressive war alliance is drawing attention.
On June 26, North Korean media outlet Rodong Sinmun criticized the U.S. in an article titled “Multinational War Organization Revival for New War Provocation.” It reported that if the U.S. is “expanding and strengthening the military operation of an Asian NATO, an aggressive war alliance,” then it is “the foot of a malicious intention to provoke a second Korean War at any arbitrary time.” The article particularly highlighted that “U.S. military movements to revive the UN Military Command as a multinational war organization are becoming more blatant,” citing the participation of 11 UN Military Command member countries in the Freedom Shield exercise by South Korea and the U.S. in March.
The article continued to criticize, “The purpose of the U.S. gathering follower forces through multinational joint military exercises is to achieve its ambition to invade the DPRK more easily. The UN Military Command, Asian NATO, and other military alliance organizations built under the pretext of collective defense fundamentally serve the hegemonic interests of the U.S. and are aggressive war organizations to realize them.”
The article also claimed, “The U.S. is trying to massively bring in follower nation forces to multinational joint military exercises under various pretexts and expand the activity range beyond the Korean Peninsula to the entire Asia-Pacific region.” Furthermore, it criticized, “The fact that the UN Military Command is now trying to resurrect as a war organization of multinational forces will lead to a serious situation of bringing about a new nuclear war in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Korean Peninsula.”
Recently, as North Korea and Russia have strengthened military cooperation close to an alliance level through the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement, there are renewed calls in South Korea and abroad for a military alliance like an Asian NATO that goes beyond trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan. In response, North Korea seems to be on alert again by criticizing it.