North Korea on August 15 condemned the large-scale joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea scheduled to run from August 17 to 27, calling them provocative actions that heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a spokesperson for North Korea's Foreign Ministry stated that military cooperation among the US, Japan, and South Korea is evolving into a nuclear alliance, and that North Korea will counter new levels of threat with new deterrence measures.
The exercises, named Ulchi Freedom Shield, will involve 18,000 South Korean troops and US forces stationed in the country, numbering approximately 28,500. The drills will include response scenarios for drones, GPS jamming, and cyberattacks, adapting to North Korea's evolving capabilities.
In a statement carried by KCNA, the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson emphasized: "The US says these upcoming drills are fundamentally different from those of the past five years and are aimed at mastering operational capabilities based on new aspects of modern warfare." The statement also reiterated North Korea's consistent principle of ensuring security by responding to new threat levels with new deterrence measures.
The North Korean Foreign Ministry argued that the US-South Korea exercises are being held "at a time when the military and political situation is increasingly serious in Europe, the Middle East, and other regions of the world." North Korea also vowed to strengthen its nuclear deterrence capabilities, accusing the US of lowering the threshold for nuclear weapons use and pushing the world "to the brink of nuclear war."
Earlier, on August 12, North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula, just six days after its previous missile launch.
In response, Colonel Ryan Donald, spokesperson for the US-South Korea Combined Forces Command, said North Korea's deployment of troops to fight in Ukraine has changed the threat that US and South Korean soldiers might face on the peninsula. "They have learned lessons there and brought them back to North Korea. Our exercises take that threat into account," he said.
According to reports, North Korea is believed to have sent approximately 12,000 to 15,000 combat troops to Russia for the war in Ukraine, with thousands killed. In return, it has gained battlefield experience, along with weapons, energy, and direct financial support. North Korea is now reportedly preparing to deploy an additional 10,000 troops.
