N. Korea threatens counteraction against joint S Korea-U.S. drills
2015/01/21 10:55
SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea threatened Wednesday to launch "defensive counteraction" as South Korea and the United States remain determined to push ahead with their joint military exercises planned for March.
Despite North Korea's repeated calls for suspension in recent weeks, South Korean military officials confirmed earlier this week that it will carry out its joint military drills with the U.S. as scheduled in March.
Two major joint drills -- Key Resolve and Foal Eagle -- are expected to kick off in South Korea in March, involving a battery of South Korean and American troops.
"The U.S. should at least halt its Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises in accordance with our pacifist efforts and the overall trend," North Korea's mainstream Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.
"If (they) push ahead with joint military drills again, our military and people cannot help taking defensive counteraction to safeguard the sovereignty and dignity of the country," the mouthpiece newspaper noted.
The newspaper article also called into question the nature of the joint drills that "mobilize a massive number of nuclear-war equipment", saying that such exercises will clearly weaken inter-Korean relations.
South Korea and the U.S. claim their joint military exercises are purely defensive, but Pyongyang has denounced them as a rehearsal for the invasion of North Korea.
Earlier this month, the North suggested that it will halt further nuclear test if the U.S. suspends the joint drills this year. The U.S., however, squarely rejected the proposal, labelling it as an "implicit threat."
The North's threat comes as it has remained silent on Seoul's offer in late December to hold high-level talks.
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