SEOUL: North Korea on Monday condemned combined US-South Korean military drills as a “provocative act”, reminder of the risk of sparking battle with” an accidental one shot”, days after Seoul’s air force mistakenly bombed a village on its own territory.
” This is a dangerous controversial work of leading the acute condition on the Korean peninsula, which perhaps fire off a real conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental one picture”, said Pyongyang’s international ministry, as quoted by state media.
The combined US-South Korea” Freedom Shield 2025″ training was set to push off on Monday, and may include “live, online, and field-based training”, according to a US speech.
The workout will work until March 21, the speech said.
Military cooperation between Seoul and Washington often invites criticism from Pyongyang, where the government sees quite moves as planning for an invasion, and usually carries out weapon tests in reply.
The latest exercise comes after two South Korean Air Force fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs on a village during a joint training exercise with US forces on March 6.
Fifteen people, including civilians and military personnel, were wounded in that incident, South Korea’s National Fire Agency said.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have been at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since their 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The United States stations tens of thousands of soldiers in the South, in part to protect Seoul against Pyongyang.
The large-scale Freedom Shield exercises are one of the allies ‘ biggest annual joint exercises.
In its statement on Monday, North Korea’s foreign ministry dubbed the exercises” an aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal”.
Last week, Pyongyang slammed the United States for “political and military provocations” over the visit of a US Navy aircraft carrier to the South Korean port of Busan.
