SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the United States and South Korea ahead of their upcoming , which Pyongyang called a war rehearsal that claimed would be more provocative than last year.
The warning is typical of the harsh rhetoric that North Korea often deploys ahead of major U.S.-South Korean military exercises and suggests the country could conduct more weapons tests in coming days. North Korea has often used major U.S.-South Korean military training as a pretext to ramp up its to expand its weapons arsenals and promote public support for leader Kim Jong Un.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries are to start their major summertime exercises Monday and have described their scope as similar to past years. The allies have said the exercises are meant to strengthen their readiness against North Korean threats and reiterated that they are defensive in nature.
In a statement carried by state media Friday, North Korea鈥檚 Foreign Ministry called the U.S.-South Korean training 鈥渁 rehearsal for an aggressive war鈥� that is triggering a different level of instability in the region.
鈥淚t is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent,鈥� the statement said. North Korea 鈥渨ill more clearly express its stance on the enemies to cope with any threats and challenges through the responsible and decisive exercise of the right to legitimate self-defense.鈥�
North Korea also said the drills would be of a 鈥渕ore serious provocative nature and dangerousness than last year鈥� and involve all the military assets and war-fighting modes of the U.S. and South Korea, a claim that those countries haven鈥檛 said.
The North Korean warning signals the country could conduct more in coming days after its neighbors detected two off North Korea鈥檚 east coast in the past week. North Korea hasn鈥檛 commented on the launches, but outside experts assess they were likely meant to protest the U.S.-South Korean drills or upgrade weapons systems.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ignored the U.S. and South Korea鈥檚 offers to resume diplomacy and focused on taking steps to bolster his nuclear arsenal since with U.S. President Donald Trump broke down in 2019. Experts say Kim will likely eventually aim to use his advancing nuclear program to win greater U.S. concessions such as extensive sanctions relief.
Kim has increased his diplomatic engagement with Russia in recent years. North Korea has been and ammunition to Russia to support its war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance. Kim has also recently pushed , North Korea鈥檚 biggest trading partner.
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