Seoul, April 18 (BNA): South Korea, the United States and Japan conducted joint missile defense naval exercises on Monday to improve response to North Korea’s threats, as Pyongyang accused Washington of intensifying “nuclear blackmail” through military exercises.
Reuters reported that the three countries agreed at talks in Washington on Friday to hold periodic missile defense and anti-submarine exercises as part of their efforts to boost diplomatic and military cooperation.
North Korea tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday that experts say will smooth the way for missile launches without warning, as part of an increase in its military activities in recent weeks.
Hours after the trilateral exercise, Ri Byong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of North Korea’s ruling party, issued a statement criticizing the United States for calling a UN Security Council meeting on the ICBM test.
Ri said North Korea’s weapons development was a self-defense measure against the United States. He accused Washington of stirring up regional tensions “on the brink of explosion” with military exercises simulating a “pre-emptive nuclear strike and all-out war” against the North.
Ri said the recent deployment of US strategic bombers was “clear evidence that the US nuclear threat and blackmail against us has reached an unforgivable level.”
“If the United States ignores our repeated warnings and continues with actions that endanger the security environment of the Korean Peninsula, we will take the necessary measures until it feels a clearer security crisis and an insurmountable threat,” he added.
Rial