North Korea has warned that the recent multinational naval exercises led by the U.S. in the Western Pacific will inevitably trigger retaliation and backlash.
On Thursday, the ruling party’s newspaper Rodong Sinmun published a commentary from the Korean Central News Agency titled, Are Frequent Disturbances in the Western Pacific Heralding a Catastrophic Tsunami?
The paper described the multinational joint exercise Talisman Sabre, held from July 3 to 27 in northeastern Australia with 19 participating countries including South Korea, Australia, and the U.S., as extremely provocative and inflammatory.
It warned that if the U.S. and its allies continue military actions that undermine peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region, they will undoubtedly face backlash and retaliation from regional nations.
North Korea also condemned the joint exercises conducted by five allied nations—Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, and Spain—in the Philippine Sea from August 4 to 12, stating that drills closely simulating real combat conditions were carried out frantically.
Regarding the upcoming U.S.-South Korea joint exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), scheduled to begin on August 18, North Korea claimed it would unfold explosively on the Korean Peninsula. They asserted that it is abundantly clear these joint military exercises by the U.S. and its allies will have severe negative consequences for the security environment of regional countries.
The regime further emphasized that the U.S. and its allied forces should not underestimate the resolve of regional nations to safeguard peace and security in the Asia-Pacific, even if it means resorting to physical responses.