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The nuclear-powered supercarrier USS John C. Stennis of the US Navy docked at Busan Naval Base in March 2016 for the Key Resolve exercise. (Kim Bong-gyu

North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country (CPRC), which serves as its organization for South Korea-related areas, issued a statement on Apr. 25 denouncing South Korea-US flight exercises as a violation of last year’s Sept. 19 military agreement, or the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA), warning that the exercises could irreversibly jeopardize inter-Korean relations.

While North Korea’s propaganda media have frequently denounced joint South Korea-US military exercises this year, the statement was the first warning to date to come from regime authorities.

In a spokesperson’s statement that day titled “Traitorous actions by South Choson [Korean] authorities will place inter-Korean relations in a more dangerous state,” CRPC described the South Korea-US flight exercises as an “open violation of the agreement on the military field in which the north and the south committed.”

“Now that the South Korean authorities get undisguised in their military provocation against the DPRK together with the US, there will be corresponding response to it from our army,” the statement warned.

The CPRC spokesperson’s statement was published in its entirety the same day in the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK).

CPRC did not share the specifics of the planned military response. While the denunciation came from the level of government authorities, the warning that the response “may be unavoidable” suggested some adjustment was made to the tenor of the message.

“Whatever steps we take, the south Korean authorities can never make any complaint, and if they cavil at [this], that will render the issue and the situation further complicated to let it go out of control,” the statement continued.

Since Apr. 22, the South Korean and US Air Forces have been conducting joint formation flight training in the skies over the Korean Peninsula. The drills, which replace the annual large-scale air combat exercise Max Thunder, reportedly involve the participation of dozens of South Korean and US Forces Korea fighter aircraft. They have not included any military capabilities deployed from the US or strategic weaponry. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) stressed that the South Korean military “has not violated the Sept. 19 inter-Korean military agreement and is abiding faithfully by its terms.”

But the CPRC statement insisted that South Korean authorities “can never conceal the aggressive, offensive and confrontational nature of their hostile acts no matter how hard they may try to give impression about ‘reduction in scope’ by replacing the codename.”

“We are watching intently the shameful behavior of the South Choson authorities who speak of ‘peace’ and ‘dialogue’ on the surface while continuing behind their backs to play with fire in a way that opposes their own people,” it said.

The CPRC statement echoes remarks made in an Apr. 12 policy speech by leader Kim Jong-un who described the South Korea-US joint exercises as “veiled hostility.” Referring to the “reckless moves” of “hawkish forces in the South Korean military, who persist in veiled hostility as they resume the military exercises, which were agreed before to be discontinued, jointly with the United States by changing their names,” Kim stressed, “It is needed to realize before it is too late that neither progress in inter-Korean relations nor any fruit of peace and prosperity can be expected.”

Kim went on to say the US “has recently conducted a test for simulated interception of our intercontinental ballistic missile and resumed military exercises the US President committed himself to suspending, while making other hostile moves contrary to the spirit of the June 12 Joint Statement in a more undisguised way.”

“I am very displeased with such a trend,” he remarked.

“As waves rise when wind blows, the more pronounced the US policy hostile towards the DPRK becomes, the tougher our counteraction will become,” he continued – sending the warning that North Korea could take action as its displeasure mounts.

The CPRC denunciation of the South also appeared to reflect displeasure over the failure to make progress with inter-Korean cooperative efforts. As the counterpart organization to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, the CPRC has played the role of a window for North Korean authorities to discuss inter-Korean cooperation. Its chairman, Ri Son-gwon, has also headed North Korea’s delegation to high-level inter-Korean talks. The CPRC statement is also notable for coming at a time when North Korea’s lineup for South Korea affairs has recently undergone changes. Pyongyang is reported to have recently appointed Chang Kum-chol, a member of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, to replace WPK Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol as head of the United Front Department, which oversees the party’s South Korea strategy.

By Yoo Kang-moon, senior staff writer

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