hankyoreh

North Korea is ratcheting up its criticism of South Korea and the United States for staging their latest round of joint military exercises, which began on Sunday.

A spokesperson of North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the Key Resolve military drill “a nuclear exercise to prepare for invading North Korea” and threatened that the communist country would strengthen deterrence measures and take other forms of counteraction. He told the nation’s Korean Central News Agency, “The U.S. and South Korean militants will not achieve their purpose and will instead put the brakes on the denuclearization process on the Korean Peninsula.”

Earlier, the North’s representative office at Panmunjeom issued a statement, saying that it will “use all possible means” to counter U.S. and South Korean military intentions to kill its people.

North Korea’s Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland issued a statement in which it said that bellicose South Korea and the United States are preparing for a military action to invade the North and this is posing an obstacle to the ongoing process of resolving the nuclear crisis between Pyongyang and Washington. “Grave situations are now unfolding as the mood for reconciliation, unity, peace and unification could at anytime give way to confrontation and a possible war.” The state-run Radio Pyongyang delivered detailed reports yesterday on actions held in opposition to the joint military drill by civic groups in South Korea.

It is not unusual for the North to intensify its rhetoric against the joint military exercise. Key Resolve has been conducted in past years under the name “RSOI,” which is also a joint South Korea-U.S. drill that Pyongyang also blasted as a prelude to an invasion of North Korea. During the Key Resolve period, which ends Friday, both countries will also stage the Foal Eagle military drill, which will focus on joint field actions.

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